What Time Can't Heal
by Magikcard
Summary: We can't pursue a normal life anymore Natsu. My past and sins will forever haunt me, they attack me every night. No matter how many people I help, that won't change, time won't reverse that easily. Why would you think that I deserve happiness beyond what I already have? No, just give up! My past is fixed, as is my future. This is the price, my fate.
1. Chapter 1: Hounded By Your Past

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

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I found myself wondering in a maze of flames, the heat ran down my arms and moved its way to penetrate my heart. The hot stone rumble around me was my own creation. Cries of despair in the distance, rising like smoke. Each step I took was painful, refreshing my sins as I got closer to somewhere I can't pinpoint, just a huge bumpy pyramid silhouette. The smell of flesh burning swirled—wrapped around my body; thick and sticky, blood that's been left for a while. I wanted to vomit; to run away and leave, but I couldn't turn away, only head towards the towering mass. Then I managed to pick out the details.

Torn clothes; broken, bleeding limbs; heads painted with horror. Bodies piled up to impossible heights. Why am I climbing it? Stop! I felt like vacant eyes followed me as I scaled arms; used legs jutting out as footholds. Rotting meat entered my nose, heat waves from the fire behind me warmed my back while the cold, hard corpses seemed to take away more than what was given. Not even the polarising temperatures felt worse than watching each body stare me down, reminding me of their final messages before I took away their lives. The pleading _: Please just let me go! I don't want to die!_ The bargaining: _At least let my daughter live!_ The bribing: _I'll do anything! Please…let me go!_ I've heard it all in a span of seconds.

Then I finally reached the top. A young boy around the age of seven crowned the decay; the first person I killed. I felt horrible afterwards of course, I thought I could just rewind my faults and wipe my sins clean, be safe in the arms of my mother, getting back the life that I was robbed of. Instead, I just stole dreams and futures. I cradled the boy's head and stroked his hair.

"I'm sorry…"

"You'll pay!" The boy jumped and grabbed my shoulders with his pale fingers. The bodies beneath me erupted and swallowed me. The rest of the corpses sprung and flailed their arms, scratching—tearing my skin, drawing blood. Chanting started as they ripped my stilled body. _Die! Die! Die! Die!_

I stared at a fuzzy ceiling barely visible without moonlight. My hands were clutching hard to my quilt. Sweat flowed to my heaving chest. I tossed away my covers and quickly check the person not far from me. Meredy was still sleeping, thankfully. I slipped a coat over my sleeping gown and took a walk outside.

Hiding in the mountains was a terrible idea, I nearly tripped over roots and rocks five times, bumped into trees three times all the while groping around as my eyes got used to the poor light conditions. Critters rustled bushes as they tried to escape their fate. I barely registered a blur of dark brown before I heard a squeal, never given a chance.

By the time I've found my way up the mountain, the trees thinned as rock formations grew. I saw nothing but a large space of black below. Ahead was a gradient of dark blue to black, growing more colourful by the second, transforming to a gentle gold, orange glow.

"Mommy look! The sun is coming up!" I whipped my head around and found a small girl bouncing vertically. I couldn't see much of her feature save the twin tails adding to the dance. Behind her, was most likely her mother.

"Just a minute ago, you were complaining how boring this trip would be, look at you now."

"It's pretty!"

"Was it worth it?"

"Yup!" The sun rose high enough to let me see the child's beaming smile, jewel eyes. A steady warmth emanated from behind me. However, nothing was as lovely as the sight before me. I tried to take away happiness like this.

"Then let's come here again with papa someday okay?"

"Yeah!" I'll protect that smile, I won't make the same mistake again. Even if I lose my life, its just a part of my punishment. Having made up my mind, I turned back to our hideout, with a plan slowly taking root.

"Morning Ul, where did you go?" Meredy yawned, with lovely pink hair blocking most of her drowsy, green eyes. Her white camisole was slipping from her shoulders.

"Where's Jellal?" I asked back, fixing Meredy's clothes.

"He went to investigate something, he said that he'll come back in a week at the latest."

"We'll have moved already by the time that happens."

"Never mind that, tell me where you've been, you can't trick me with such a simple trick."

"I guess teaching you for so long has its downsides." I sighed, concocting a reasonable lie within the short time I've bought. "I took a walk, I couldn't sleep, so I hoped that a little exercise would help. I lost track of time."

" _You_ , lose track of time? Please just tell me what happened, I want to help you Ul."

"Maybe later…" seeing her pouty face, I broke down a bit. Even after all these years, I can't help but fall for her tricks at times, "I promise I'll tell you someday."

"Fine."

"What do we have left for breakfast?"

In a destroyed, poorly-maintenance building, I blinked a man's final hopes away. Around me lay piles of groaning bodies left to grovel on stone floor while I dealt with the leader. He was burly and sweating from magic depleting. Clothes in tatters; despair plastered over his face.

"H—how?"

"I gave you a chance to surrender and save both of us some time, it's rather precious wouldn't you say? Now spend the rest of your life in prison!" I shot an orb forward, stopping briefly at the man's face before swerving around and slamming at the occipital bone, driving him to the floor. Turning away my focus from battle, I noticed someone peeking out a rotted door frame. "It's not polite to spy on other." I called out.

"Sor—sorry!"

"Someone from the village? Just in time, tell the guards to arrest these people, you're all free from them now."

"Thank you very much!"

"I haven't done anything to deserve anyone's gratitude. If you still insist on thanking me, don't tell the guards that I did this, don't even tell them what I look like."

"I won't!"

"Then hurry up, I'll tie these people up." Once the pitter patter of footsteps disappeared, I already restrained everyone.

"Ul, this is the seventh one this week, you need some rest."

"I did just fine didn't I? I don't need any rest."

"They were weak, what happens if you encounter some trouble later on? You won't be able to protect yourself."

"I can keep going."

"Your left hand is on your hips."

"And?"

"You only do that when you're tired."

"Just one more and I'm done for the month."

"I shouldn't be letting this happen."

"Thank you."

I was walking along a trail to my next target, Meredy was following me in the bushes. Clearly, I haven't taught her enough about hiding. Having Meredy keep watch just in case might save me. While I don't want to admit it, she's right. At some point, green grass shifted to burnt ones; bushes reduced to ash; flames flickered in warm winds. Judging from the position of the scorch marks on trees, the battle that occurred was heading the same place I was. Doubling my awareness, I forged on.

T he battle scars melted away, but it gave way to foot prints following the same path I was planning to go down. It let me to a cave flashing bright orange that drew muffled screams, explosions shook the ground I was standing on. The cries became clearer until I saw the sound source burst out the entrance. It was a man in burnt clothes, primal fear was evident in his eyes, something that was short lived once I knocked him out.

M aybe I should turn back, someone strong enough to break a man's will to fight must be a monster. Can I even face what's inside? Only one way to find out. I took another step forward.

At that moment, a man with spikey pink hair walked out. I would never forget that iconic scarf of his, or his cheery smile. Yet, with his arms thrown backwards, he seemed more bored than anything. Natsu Dragneel, what is he doing here?

"And I thought they were strong. Boring. Maybe I should challenge Erza once I get back, she'll put up a better fight!"

His eyes wandered to take in his surrounding, weeping back and forth before settling to me. As if I was a match, Natsu's eyes sparked in excitement and waved.

"Yo!"

"Why were you in a Dark Guild hideout?"

"Those guys pissed me off, so I came to kick their asses."

"Just as straight forward as ever."

"What brings you here?"

"I was planning to exterminate the people in that cave, looks like you beat me to it."

"Sorry about that."

"You don't need to apologise, I needed to take a break anyway." I heard a rustle behind me. Don't you get ahead of yourself now Meredy.

"So you finally admit it!" Meredy jumped from her hiding place, arms crossed in triumph.

"Shut it you."

"So Natsu, we're about to have lunch, want to join us? It's our treat, take it as a thank you for helping Ul before she exploded from exhaustion."

"Meredy! Don't you know how much he—"

"Really!? Of course I'll come!" Facing his practically sparking eyes filled with hope, it was hard to refuse any further, Meredy should know by now that we're not exactly rich enough to treat a random person we bump into.

"Just don't choose a place too expensive." I sighed, giving Meredy my best stern stare I could with tiredness still roaming. I cleared my throat seeing the two walking away to a nearby town. "We need to capture the people inside."

Just as the town was in sight, Meredy glanced around like a predator. Seeing that there wasn't anyone, she ducked behind a tree as I pulled out a pair of glasses and a woolly hat, following her.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"We can't exactly just walk into populated areas freely you know," I answered, tying my hair into a bun, "though the chances of someone recognizing us is low, we can't risk it. So you'll have to wait."

"What a pain."

"That's how it is when you've done something unforgivable."

"It's all in the past isn't it?"

"If only society see it like that…we can't pursue normal lives anymore Natsu, we're constantly on the move." I adjusted my hat and made sure my bangs hung lower than normal then finally slipping on the glasses. Meredy had a silk scarf hiding most of her face, leaving her eyes and nose peeking out. Her hair was untied reaching her shoulder. She even went the extra mile and changed her clothes to a pearl blouse and jeans. I should have bought a change of clothes too…

"Well," I asked, stepping out and striking a confident pose, using my fingers to adjust the glasses, "what do you think?"

"Huh? Does it matter?" His vacant eyes told me they found more interest in a butterfly flying by than me. Surely, I'm not that unattractive. Previously, I seduced many people with my charms. And yet! He's brushing it off like he would do with dirt! "I'm getting hungry."

"You're more extraordinary than I thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing, let's just get this over with. Do you have any idea what you want to eat?"

"As long it's good, I don't care."

"Then I know a place, just follow me." Meredy and Natsu shuffled along behind me. "And Meredy."

"Yes?"

"Don't you think that this meal won't come from your pocket as well."

"That's not fair! I just spent money on clothes!"

"You're just getting what you deserve." Oh Meredy, you should be glad I'm willing to stop here.

I led us down a busy street that wasn't too crowded that made it hard to navigate, just slightly inconvenient. While Meredy and I kept our heads low, it still didn't stop me from admiring the peace of the town. Children laughter was swimming around in harmony with market noise. The first town I levelled was reminiscent to this place; filled with charm. It's strange, roaming freely in a town; for a moment—just a moment, I thought I was at peace. Would this have been the life I've missed? Now this is what I must protect—ironic, in a way.

We arrived rather early, people haven't flooded the place. We took a seat at the back. I took a menu from a waiter as he gave us water.

"What do want to eat?" I asked, scanning for the cheapest item on the menu.

"I don't really care, I'll leave it up to you."

"And Meredy?"

"I'll have this one." She pointed to a plain spaghetti with meatballs.

"Then I'll get the salad, want to share?"

"Sure!" Meredy beamed, though, I'm not certain if that's because we're eating something cheap, or that we're sharing food. When was the last time that happened? Ten years? Seven?

"By the way Natsu, why were you here in the first place?"

"I had a job to do."

"Can you tell us what it's about?"

"Some monkeys were bothering the folks here, so I took care of them. That's right!" Natsu suddenly jumped from his seat, taking my hands into his. "I need you!" Firm onyx eyes bore into me, his smile was there, like a child that found a long-lost toy. Our faces were just slightly apart, a bump would drive our foreheads together. He smelt slightly sweaty, not unbearable, if it wasn't for the intriguing scent of smoked food, I would have pushed him away. His hands were rough, but a gentle warmth came with it. It was calming. Huddling around a campfire with Meredy was the closest thing I could compare it with.

"Excuse me?"

"I broke some stuff; your magic can help with that right?"

"Err…that's true but...how about this, I'll help you. However, you owe me a favour."

"That's it? No problem!"

"Natsu," Meredy sighed and looked at the Dragon-slayer with pity, "you shouldn't agree to owe a favour Ul so easily, you just might regret it."

"Too late, he already agreed to it, I'll look forward to it, reaping my efforts."

"Oh yeah," Natsu started, "why were you so tied in the first place?"

"I rather not tell."

"I've seen that face before, all around the guild. When I was a kid, I didn't know what it meant. But now, I know you're bothered by something. Gramps always said that family help each other. Or something like that. Arhh! How do I say it?" Natsu raked his fingers through his hair. "Keeping it in will bite you back in the ass. You family will always help you." His words may have sounded more profound, had his eyes didn't look strained from thinking for the right thing to say. Still, there's something about him saying those things from the bottom of his heart to someone like me.

"Thank you, I'll keep that in mind. For now, let's order something."

"Thought I heard rumours, this was my first time seeing a dragon's appetite in person, how will I buy Meredy her present now?

"Well," I stood up and stretched, trying to push my sudden loss of money and a stack of empty plates out of my mind, "let's go fix whatever you broke."

"Cool! The house is that way!"

"House?"

A five-minute walk from the diner, was ruins of battle. It looks like an army storm past and razed a town to the ground. Each stone brick from the pile of rubble was incomplete. Honestly, it reminded me of what I did, and I was _trying_ to destroy! How do you cause this amount of damage by accident?

With a flick of a wrist, I set the house to reverse. The rubble came to life, each piece worked together to become while again.

"In exchange," I said to a grieving man, "you don't tell anyone what happened here."

"O—of course I won't! Thank you so much! I'm in your debt!"

'Thank you' huh? Even if it's been a while since I started helping others, the swelling in my chest right now, this warmth, makes me glad that went back down the right path. What I learned from Fairy Tail is that there's always time to change. From Natsu however…I guess I should tell Meredy what happened. Without her, it would have been a lot worse.

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Hello again! Thank you for waiting, I'm back from my break. I'm not sure if I really got rid of all the problems I bumped into when I was writing my previous story—which I don't recommend you read—however, I still want to share stories again.**

 **I don't exactly know where in the timeline this story will be in, obviously an AU where Ultear doesn't become old, but the Grand Magic Games were over. Don't ask me how that works.**

 **What do you think of the chapter so far? And yes, I realise that I used the same scene from the other stories I wrote, where Natsu gives some talk about family being important. Hopefully this would be the last time that I use it. God knows I already don't have the qualifications to be a good writer.**

 **Anyway, I want to try to keep each chapter to be around 2k-5k with some exceptions of course. That said, if you read something that you think is off or bad, please tell me, at the end of the day, I still want to learn.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter and you'll stick around for my next upload. I learned my lesson this time, I won't make any promises of finishing this story, I will try my best of course.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	2. Chapter 2: A Glimpse of Peace

**Disclaimer: I don't owe Fairy Tail**

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Morning light finally woke me up; I brushed away my loose stands of hair that were stuck to my forehead. Even my clothes needed to be peeled off. I reached for a change of clothes and turned on a fire lacrima. I couldn't help but notice that my hands were shaking when I pulled out my cloths; standing helplessly as zombies tear you to shreds would turn the bravest to cowards…

As I waited for water to heat up, I read a book to ease my nerves, planning to finish off any remaining fear with a nice, warm, rejuvenating bath. With all these nightmares occurring lately, I've grown some envy to fire mages. They practically have instant access to an instant refresher—if what I've seen Natsu do was any good point of reference. I closed my book at the over familiar 'ding'. It's only been three days since we've moved hideouts and already, the shower room is the place I'm most intimate with.

Baths are the greatest thing I look forward to everyday. I was submerged in soothing hot water after impatiently cleaning myself. I suppose this is an upside to being haunted by my sins. As the water sloshes around, they took away my troubles in waves.

Lazily taking in the steam-filled room in boredom, I saw my blurry reflection. I could make out my hair from my face but nothing else beyond that. Even the clock above my head wasn't free. Not that I need a clock. I have a good track of time—everything must follow a schedule. A few minutes later, I reluctantly got out, quickly dried myself and dressed up. Five minutes before the meeting starts.

In a room lit by sunlight, I sat around a round table, running my shoes up and down a sark blue carpet while I waited for Meredy and Jellal to show up which, should come about…now. Doors clicked, and footsteps filled the room.

"Good morning Ul, did you sleep well?" Meredy asked. In the time after we met Natsu, I haven't told Meredy about my dreams, she's still closing in on the truth. I'm not sure if I should be proud, or irritated.

"Well enough, I got a good amount of sleep." Though it was fragmented in three segments.

"That's good, we wouldn't want you to get sick, it's easy to catch something in this time of the year." Meredy said as she took a seat and moved closer to me. I smiled hearing those nostalgic words, a much younger Meredy flashed through my head.

In the same moment, I unconsciously stroked her hair, "A bit early for you to be telling me that."

"Let's get this meeting started." Jellal yawned, trying to straighten his messy blue hair. While he isn't a morning person, he sure isn't bad with mornings either. Yet, those blue eyes were struggling to stay open. If anyone of us is going to be sick, it's going to be him.

"Should we wait until later? At least, once you get some rest."

He replied with a wry smile, "Then I wouldn't be able to sleep, the meeting would always be in my mind."

"Got it, let's start then."

"Thanks. I received notice that someone called Norton The Puppeteer is human trafficking. His latest known victim is a small girl called Emily." Jellal handed me a picture while Meredy looked over my shoulder.

She was a cute kid, wearing her hair in the form of a cyan ribbon streaming down the back. A pair of cheerful eyes. If children are also targets, how many people have gone missing?

Like an explosion, a man's face blasted everything else away, swapped with countless lifeless faces. Time sped forward, flesh fell off cheeks; eyes shrivelled like rotten fruit; maggots surged from mouths, bringing along rot and decay to my nose.

They were chanting again. _Die! Die! Die!_ I tried to speak, nothing. _Die! Die! Die!_ I tried to run, hands anchored me. _Die! Die! Die!_ My attempts at escape was met with chanting that got louder and started to echo. Then I felt something warm touch my arm in the midst of cold corpses—a hand. It shook me, gentle at first, but becoming more forceful.

"Ul!" That word pulled me out. It was spilling with so much concern that it wiped the heads away. "Are you okay?" Meredy was leaning towards me, one hand on my shoulder, and the other on my lap.

"I'm…fine."

"Are you sure? If you're not sick, then what is it? You still haven't told me."

"It doesn't matter, it's nothing that serious, stopping Norton is more important."

"You don't have to worry about that, I took the job. Both you and Jellal need to get some rest, I'll handle everything else." Meredy's eyes, I can't stop her once they become like that. They were like a tree going though winter, determined to face anything. "In exchange, I want you to do something about what's bothering you. If you won't tell, then at the very least— _the very least_ , treat it! With this, I'm cancelling the meeting early, anything else we didn't cover, we'll talk about it later."

"We can't do that." "I can keep going."

"Well I can't, I'm done here, I need to prepare to capture Norton." Meredy slammed the door on her way out. Groans replaced the sound shortly after.

"I thought she was over her rebellious age…"

"In a way, it's our fault." Jellal mused.

"Don't defend her, she's setting back our work flow. Depending on when's our next meeting, we'll lose a week's worth of work or even worse."

"Take that time to rest up," his stern tone left me no room to argue, "or find a professional to talk to. I'm going back to sleep. I want you to have some focus next time." And Jellal left me in a plain room to think about what to do next. Before I knew it, I grabbed my fake identification, some money and put on a good disguise; changing my hair to a blazing red, eyes a piercing blue. I slipped on a pair of jeans and wore a jacket. I'm the worst kind of mother, always unable to refuse their children's request.

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I don't go to see doctors often, I don't get sick a lot for one, I don't trust them either. They lied to my mother and turned my life upside-down. It took a very sick Meredy and lots of pleading from her for me to finally asked them for help. However, these nightmares have gone to the point where they are seriously starting to affect my duties. I have to get this out of my head. Thus, I'm now Skye Doyle sitting on a bench crossed legged and skimming through a magazine, waiting for my name to be called.

At last, I entered a room with contrasting colours, a red carpet that sunk my feet met a pale-yellow wall. Posters to raise awareness of multiple mental illnesses were placed to compliment the duller parts of the room. Standing out from all of this, was a lady in a lab coat writing down some notes.

"Miss Doyle yes?" She asked with a smile I felt that the room brighten in an instant.

"Yes."

"Take a seat, I don't believe that you've been here before." I pulled out a leather seat."

"No, I'm a traveller."

"I see. Then could you tell me what's bothering you?"

I took a deep breath. "I've been having nightmares for the past month now." Pen scratching on paper intensified.

"What were the nightmares about?"

"I rather not tell."

"I see." Being probed like this was unnerving. I guess I was scared—scared to admit what I done to others. Perhaps that's why they attack me, they're here to remind me of it. I tried to be as honest as possible, a few questions did go unanswered, or given the wrong answer. And she could tell. That same experienced wry smile would peek out from her professionalism.

"It seems like you're suffering from the aftermath of a tragic past, why it started to appear now, I'm not entirely sure." I nodded. "As with most patients I see, a lot of their struggles are internal, they had to fight their past by themselves. What I can do however, is to keep it out of your mind. I'll prescribe some medicine to help with that. Keep in mind, these are only tools, not an out.

"And since you didn't tell me the crux of the nightmares, I'm afraid I can only do so much. I could refer to you some of my colleagues that could help you. Since this is the case, perhaps trying to talk to someone that you trust more than me." A sad smile creeped up. "It may not seem like much but, having someone else's support goes a long way in winning the battle. Oh! Might I also suggest taking up a hobby? From what you've told me, you seem to be too focused on your job. Stress can be a major reason why you've been having nightmares lately, it can also explain the abruptness of your nightmares. A hobby could relief stress that you've gained unconsciously. Sometimes, even having a job you love can still accumulate stress. We'll see what happens in a month, or you can find me whenever something changes. Anything else I can help you with?"

"Not that I can think of."

"Then I hope you have a good day."

"Thank you so much, goodbye."

"See you."

* * *

Leaving the building with a bag of drugs in tow, my stomach reminded me that I haven't eaten breakfast with a low battle cry. It should almost be time for lunch anyway. Isn't that Natsu ahead?

Surprisingly enough, Natsu was strolling around the streets with a flying cat tagging closely behind. With hands hanging behind his head. Natsu peered at each store with curiosity. Not unusual, this town is known for their handicraft, which is precisely why it's unlikely or even strange to find Fairy Tail members roaming the streets of Westerspring. The locals would never hire them. They would hire Blue Pegasus for models and smaller guild for when they need something else done. And should Fairy Tail visit, it would be people looking for gifts. And Natsu doesn't strike me as a thoughtful person, he thought I was a guy that liked to cross-dress for goodness sake!

His gaze washed over me, looks like he didn't notice me just yet, he will once I get closer. And I have to, the diners and restaurants are behind him. I was about thirty steps away from him when I was targeted again, his lip curled and waved.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"We're about to celebrate our guild anniversary, so I came here to buy a gift for gramps." Natsu replied, his smile never leaving.

"Aye!" The blue cat; Happy chirped. "By the way Natsu, who's this?"

"She's that person from uhh…she's Ul-something."

I hurried and clasped my hand over his mouth; whispered, "It's Ultear and don't say my name in public, got it?" He nodded; I released him.

"So what are you doing here?" Natsu asked back like nothing happened.

"Huh? Oh, I was patrolling to see if there's anyone causing trouble. Now I'm going to have lunch."

"Sweet! Can we join you?"

"But Natsu, we already ate!"

"Who cares? It's better to eat with someone, eating by yourself is lonely."

"Thanks for you concern but, I've gotten used to eating alone after being by myself for so long. You can join me if you want but, I'm not paying for your meal."

"Cool! Then let's—"

"Wait!" I stopped him and focused on a figure in the distance. Legs acted as blinds, so I only saw the squatting silhouette in glimpses—a crying child! I darted forward, wading my way through a river to reach the treasure on the other side. I made out purple hair and eyes; they were a darker shade, but still lovely. "Are you okay?" The child stopped whimpering, placing her tiny hands on her white dress. "Where's your mom?"

"Don't…know…" Her voice was hoarse, I could see dry tear marks partitioning her cheeks.

"Did she say where to go if you get lost?"

"No…"

"Do you want to find her?" The child nodded. "Then let's go find mommy." I picked her up in my arms and made a small ice rose.

"Pretty." She pawed for the rose.

"You keep that for me, okay?"

"Got it!"

"What's your name?"

"Eva." At that moment, a little earthquake originated from Eva's stomach. Like a rabbit, Eva burrowed deeper in my arms, drawing a giggle from me, she's so cute!

"Looks like you're hungry as well, then let's go eat. I'm Skye, nice to meet you Eva."

"Yup!"

"You really look like a mother huh." I turned and found Natsu peering down on us. My sleeves felt tighter.

"It's alright Eva, he's my friend." I cooed while patting her head.

"Yup, just because Natsu looks scary, doesn't mean he's evil." Happy informed.

"Kitty!" Eva pawed for Happy this time.

"We'll play later, for now, we'll fill our tummies."

"Okay!"

We found a small diner that was bustling with people, Eva was taking in the sights, it seems like she isn't a local, when we were finding a place to eat, marvel was ever present, tugging on my sleeve to point out something she found amusing. A shame she never had the chance to enjoy the town until now. Of course, while she was having the time of her life, I was looking for anyone that had similar features to Eva, or a worried, angsty woman. In the end, my search was futile. Natsu told me that since there's so many people, once they go beyond a certain distance, he couldn't make out the different scents.

"What's wrong?" I asked Eva, seeing her sporting a frown. Tracking her line of sight, she appeared to be fixated on the price tags on the dishes rather than the text above them. "You don't have to worry about it, I have more than enough to pay for it, just cut loose, it's a special day isn't it?"

"Papa's birthday…"

"So that's why you're here. We'll find your mom soon. And the last thing I want is her blaming me for letting you starve, it's an important time of your life to be eating well, don't hold back."

"Can't eat it all…"

"That's why Natsu is here, he'll clean everything up."

"Really?" She looked at a plate of pancakes on the menu.

"Of course, do you want the pancakes?"

Leaving the diner, Eva had a new-found bounce in her voice. She got even more excited when she saw someone with long dark hair, only to have her hope crushed once we got closer. Natsu was actively sniffing for people that smelt like Eva; Happy search from above for people that matched Eva's description: pretty, with purple hair—not much to go by.

"Mama…"

"We'll find her, do you know where you lost her?"

"It looked like that." Eva pointed to an alley. This is a long-shot but, seeing the dark, damp alley sparked Eva's description back in my head.

"Natsu! We're leaving this town," I broke into a run, shoving everyone out of my way, there's only one way out of Westerspring, "we have to hurry, Eva's mother might have been abducted!" Natsu's sense of smell shouldn't be blocked once we get out. I won't let anyone else be stripped of their mother!

* * *

Trees surrounded us, stone roads melted to dirt ones. Eva clutched on my arms. I wanted to leave her behind, where it's safe, but she wouldn't let go.

"Natsu, have you found a scent?"

"Yeah, they're pretty far away, we need to hurry." Maintaining this disguise could bite me back in the butt.

"Eva, sorry for lying to you, I'm not Skye," I dispelled my disguise, "my real name is Ultear. For certain reasons, I can't stay in public, so please keep this a secret okay?"

"Pretty…" Eva pulled on my hair, I guess she hasn't developed a disdain for lies yet.

"Lead the way Natsu."

"Got it." Natsu ran towards the trees to the extent that I had troubles keeping up with him. Running with a child on one arm and holding an orb in the other wasn't the best way to chase after people. If we're lucky, we'll get Eva's mother back, and maybe give Meredy some more information.

Tracks appeared as the ground got more damp and canopies became dense. Three distinct boots stamped on dirt; one large, two average. Judging from how deep the tracks were, they're not in a hurry. While I wasn't tired, my breathing sure was audible. Natsu however, didn't change at all.

"The smell is getting stronger. We'll catch up to them in no time."

"Then let's slow down a bit." I suggested, adjusting Eva to a better location. Now she was perched on my shoulders, I can't turn my head very well, at least I can use my other hand now.

"Why?"

"See how swallow these prints are? They're not running, that means once we've found them, they'll be rested and ready to fight, if we keep our pace up, by the time we run into them, we might be too tired."

"I can keep going though."

"I don't go through as much physical training as you do."

"Fine, Happy, carry her, we'll speed up."

"Aye sir!" The blue cat that was sitting on Natsu's head and happily eating raw fish circled behind me and picked me up.

"Now we don't have to worry about it. Any problems Happy?"

"Nope! She's lighter than Lucy."

"That's good, I'll go at top speed." Natsu exploded into another run, faster than what I could achieve. Then Happy took off after him. Wind hit my face, it stung my eyes. At least Eva was having fun, waving her arms in the air and shifting the balance of my head.

It wasn't long until we saw figures weaving between trees: they noticed us. "Happy! Max speed, I'll catch up!"

"Aye sir!" Air formed a thick wall that actively pushed against us. The men were wearing the black jacket and boots, the largest man in the middle was carrying a woman with silky purple hair.

"Mama!"

"Don't worry, I'll get her back. Happy, once we get close, drop me off and take Eva with you, don't you dare let her get hurt, or you'll pay!"

"A—aye!"

"The moment you see an opening, drag Eva's mother out of there." I ordered before touching the ground. "I presume you three work for Norton?"

The one in the middle answered, "you wouldn't need to know," bingo; I prepared my orb, "coming by yourself, you must be a dumber bitch than I thought." At the foot of the other two, dark, shadowy snakes slithered off and hid in the bushes.

"I shouldn't do this but, I'll give you a chance, release the woman and tell me all you know about Norton, then I'll let you three go." The man sneered.

" _You_ letting us go? You're surrounded! How about you strip and shake that ass for us? And maybe you'll leave without having—" Our surrounding turned to rot and dust, revealing the snakes. In the same moment, a torrent of roses pierced the snakes. "What the…"

"It's a small chance, but I rather not risk Eva learning something that she shouldn't. You're just like the rest, hopeless and unable to change. Maybe being locked up will help!" I accelerated my orb, slamming into the other two. When it reached around for the remaining one, he caught it and crushed my orb. Shards dropped to the ground while I blasted the fallen men to Natsu's direction.

"Not bad, don't think you're hot shit just because you took out those trash!" He pulled out a gun and fired air bullet my way. Wave after wave, I countered each bullet with a wall of thorns. "Eat this!" The air turned hot; red and orange consumed me. Even that quickly disappeared into nothing. "Wha—" At the moment, I re-created my orb and smashed it to the man's face.

"Happy!" A blue blurred swooped in, taking Eva's mother with him. "Now I can fight without holding back." When the man got back up, he was already encased in a cage of thorns, they stabbed his hands, dropping the gun.

"You sure took care of him quickly." Natsu said, shoulders carrying the people I sent him.

"It's thanks to you getting rid of the other two. Can you ensure that he wouldn't escape? I need to see if Eva's mother is fine."

"Sure." Eva beat me to it, she was shaking her mother's head, tearing up once she didn't get any response. Happy set the two down against a tree that was saved from my magic.

"Let me try." I placed two fingers on the neck; soft beats brought a smile to my face. "She's just sleeping, don't worry." Inspecting closer, traces of magic came from the mother's chest. "They made her sleep with magic. I can't dispel it, maybe if Meredy is here."

"She won't wake up?"

"No, no, I just can't wake her up peacefully." I took off her flat shoes along with her loafer socks. "It'll be a bit cold, just bear with it." I made a block of ice and pressed it to her feet. A few seconds later, the mother's eyes fluttered open.

"Huh? Where I am?" Purple eyes absorbed everything around her.

"Mama!" Eva lunge at her mother with a hug."

"Sweetheart? What—where are we? That's right, I was following David and then—"

"You were abducted by those three." I pointed to tied-up people by Natsu.

"David!? He…" Eva's mother pointed to the large man that was just knocked out by Natsu.

"You know him?"

"He's my friend, or was. He told me that he's in debt. Then he led me in an alley since he didn't want Eva to hear about some things."

"I see, if he's hired by Norton, I doubt questioning him will get me much."

"Umm…who are you by the way?"

"I'm Ultear," Eva's mother froze, "you've heard of me, not surprising I guess."

"What do you want from us?" She hugged Eva tight, covering Eva as much as possible.

"You shouldn't believe everything the newspapers and authorities tell you."

"At least they're more trustworthy than a criminal!"

"I can't deny that. However, I did take care of Eva for you. And with the help of Natsu over there, I saved you."

"Is that true?" Looking at Eva for confirmation, the mother kept up her guard. Seeing her child nod happily, she breathed a sigh. "I'm sorry."

"You were just tricked by your friend, it's understandable."

"I'm Jennifer, thanks so much for looking after my daughter."

"Just don't tell anyone that I was here, if you must report it, just say that Natsu saved you."

"Why?"

"The less leads people have on me, the better. Natsu!" I called out. "Can you take these two back? I need to question those three."

"You're leaving?" Eva asked. Looking into her moist eyes broke my heart.

"I can't stay."

"Will you come and play?"

"Sorry for breaking that promise, you just can't stay in contact with me, it's dangerous."

"But…"

"Has she shown signs of using magic?" I asked Jennifer.

"The test we had her take came back positive."

"Then will this make up for it?" I gave Eva my orb.

"No!" Eva clutched onto the orb tightly.

"You were being so well-behaved before…now you're being so stubborn…" I stared at Jennifer for assistance.

"Sweetie, Ultear is a…criminal, like she said, being with her will—"

"Ul is not a bad person! Mama said criminals are bad people, but, but, Ul isn't! So why is she a criminal!?" Eva cried, stamping her foot in frustration. Tears flowed from eyes filled with…adoration!? Those were the same expression that Meredy gave me when I was her role model.

"Umm…well…"

"Because I killed people," Eva stopped, "I wasn't like the person you I am now, I killed anyone that got in my way, children or elderly. I'm not the person you think I am, seven years ago, I was still a cold-hearted killer. I stole, I lied, I cheated, you wouldn't want to be with me. That's why I'm trying to make things right. All this time, I'm trying to make amends for what I've done, you can't reverse time after all. It's best if you forget about me." I reached for my orb.

"No!" Eva bit my hand like a cornered mouse.

"Eva…" I didn't try to free my hand. Unlike the corpses, this bite was packed with emotion—love. Instead, I slowly stroked her head. "I'm really sorry. If I haven't done what I've done, I would love to play with you. I apologise to you as well," I turned to Jennifer, "for your daughter's first role model to be someone like me."

"I think it's a good thing." She responded, rubbing circles to Eva's twitching back. "It teaches her that there's always time to make things right, she'll know that making mistakes won't be the end of things. If anything, I should thank you." Never, in seven years has anyone told that to me, once they learned of my identity, they would push me away—not that I tell people who I am without thinking—Jennifer firmly faced me. The gratification I felt from helping people remains the same, they're a comfort food to me. And perhaps that's why my mouth moved without much thought.

Eva stopped adding pressure to her bite, just letting her teeth rest against my skin. "Eva?" She looked up. "If society ever allows me, I promise to come visit you."

"Really?"

"Only if your parents allow it."

"I'll try to convince my husband."

"Then you better pay attention to the newspaper." I ruffled Eva's hair. "Even I don't know when that will happen."

"But..." Eva started, "you said not to trust everything they say."

"And that's why you need to know how to spot the difference."

"Promise?" Eva held up her little finger.

"It's a promise." I hooked our fingers together.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.**

 **This took longer than it should have took, I'm a really lazy person. But anyway, I swear I won't use lunch as an excuse in the next chapter, most likely, it won't even feature Natsu, I'm not too sure at the moment.**

 **Anyway, I'm still looking for some chapter ideas, let me know if you have any good ones! Also, thanks so much for showing your understanding in me deciding to drop my last story, it really helped get the guilt out of my head.**

 **Finally, I made a better effort to proofread this time, I'm sure there's still errors, please forgive me if you found them.**

 **Have a nice day!**


	3. Chapter 3: Coming Out

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"Now then," I said to myself, making my way to the three men tied up and unconscious, "time to get some information." I made sure I couldn't see Eva or her mother before making my move. Shame Meredy isn't here, she would make waking these people up take no effort—not that torturing people takes much effort in the first place. I created thorns to wrap around their legs, constricting them, turning my pink roses to a rich, vibrant red. When the stains touched dirt, screams erupted. Their eyes fluttered open, shaking heads around like prey looking for danger. Stopping on me, brows furrows and more cries echoed the forest as my roses tightened.

"You bitch!" David snarled.

"Had a good nap?"

"Once I get out, you'll wish you—"

"Oh, you'll get out, just not here. Does a prison yard sound appealing?"

"You—" Pain replaced his next words.

"I think that's enough for now, I have some questions I want answered. If you keep saying useless things, you're just wasting my time. Now, when did Norton hire you?"

"You think I'll just tell you?"

"The least you could do, you did try to sell your friend to a human trafficker." He stopped, so I pressed his guilt further. "You wanted Eva to grow up with one parent? What did that family do to you? Or are you such a pitiful person that you can't look at a happy family without growing envious of what people have that you don't?"

"I had to!" David shot up with rage, drawing more blood. "My debts were too much. And then, he came to my doorstep. He offered me money enough to pat the money back." So he's the type of person to be easily manipulated—my favourite.

"And you took it!?"

"Of course! I had to pay back the money for Eligia's surgery."

"I'm more surprised that Norton shows up himself to make offers." Did he not have enough men? Or was he just short on men at the time? Batting away my questions, I kept the fire burning. "Where did he tell you to deliver Jennifer?"

"He just told me to wait in my house for people to pick her up." This is getting strange, perhaps Meredy will get better results.

"And who are these two?" I motioned to David's bleeding companions. As if he was struck with fear, David tensed up. The other people just stared at me with hate while David but his lip. "I'll loosen the thorns if you answer." Still nothing. While their loyalty is impressive for abductors, the silence told me more than they hoped. They were digging deeper to my thorns in weak attempts of suicide. Their eyes darted around; small movements like shifting feet and low groans became more became more dramatic. And I can't call for help because I gave my orb away.

I soon took away the ropes for ice binds, trapping them with an ice cage in the same motion—I'll just drag these people back home—wheels grew from the base while tied the ropes to one side of the cage. Finally came the horse. I closed my eyes, recalling the pictures I've seen and books I've read. Two ideal horses formed in my head as I tried to make them a reality. Muscular legs with little fat throughout the body. I fashioned two pairs of twinkling eyes and a lush mane. When I opened my eyes, two horses poked at the ground. Using shaking hands, I tied the horse to the cages. We started to head back to the hideout at a gentle pace.

* * *

By the time I saw a camouflaged house, my magic was almost empty, but I reserved enough to fight the three behind me should they escape. The house was made with wood, covered with leaves and magic for places that were hard to reach. I walked to an oak door, about to take down the barrier we put up when the door flung open.

"Ul, you're back! What did the doctor say?" Meredy asked. Her hair wasn't as tidy compared to when I left, several pieces stuck out like twigs in a bird's nest.

"I'll tell you later, is Jellal awake?"

"He's still sleeping."

"That's good. Anyway," I pointed to the cage behind me, "these people were hired by Norton, the large one was just in it for some quick money. The other two, seems pretty loyal to him."

"I see…" a small smile crept up, and a twinkle was in Meredy's eyes, "I'll handle them from here, you take a rest, making those horses must have been hard."

"Then I'll leave it to you, I'm going to take a nap. Once I get up, I'll tell you everything."

"Really?"

"Yes." I stepped inside the house, glance over the table and chairs—the only furniture in our living room—trying to find any new additions. With nothing new, I supported my way up a flight of wooden stairs and took a right turn. Opening another door, I found an alluring bed singing lullabies to me. In silence, I slipped under some covers and got comfy. Then I felt something prick me butt; the medicine!

I abandoned my bed and dragged myself back down, all the while reading instructions on each drug the doctor prescribed to me. Back in my bed, I sunk in my mattress, prepared to face my sleep.

It started out hazy; a swirling mist, grey and turning black. I was encased in this expanding capsule, groping around for direction. The mist turned to something firm. It was warm, the gentle warmth you would find form another person. My senses were overloaded, bombarded with a bright flash of light, the smell of baking cake; my fingers were running through hair, soft—it was a nostalgic feeling. Memories of fixing Meredy's hair when she was still a child.

I could see again. Sitting on a thick carpet, I was stroking Eva's hair while she sat on my lap. Meredy was in the kitchen helping Jennifer with cooking. Eva had my orb in her hands, channelling her magic into it while I was instructing her.

"Not too forcefully, you'll make it unstable, you want a consistent warm white glow." Right now, the orb was flashing brightly, then it turned to sad flicker. "That's too less try a bit more."

"But it's so difficult!" Her pout made me ruffle her hair more.

"Why do you think we're practising? So you can get the hang of it."

"Can we take a break?"

"But we just started, let's continue for another half an hour."

"That's so far away!" The wailing mouse looked at her mother for help.

"Honey, you asked Ultear to teach you, you should feel lucky, it's not everyday you get a powerful wizard personally teach you magic. Besides, didn't you say you want to contact daddy everyday when he's at work? If you learn from Ultear, you can do that."

"She's right, but before we can start doing that, you need to learn how to keep a consistent stream of magic flowing. And once you manage that, you opened the doors to all different kinds of magic. Just think of this exercise like building blocks, to build big buildings, we need a good base, we're working on that base."

"Both of you are meanies!" Eva cried. Despite her frustration, she kept channelling magic into the orb, swinging the light between a poor dying ember and a large campfire before finally settling as a candle flame. "I did it!" Raising her arms in joy, the orb died down and returned to the dull transparent orb it used to be, much like Eva's enthusiasm.

"Don't be like that, you remember what that feeling is like right?" Eva nodded. "Then it'll be easier the next time you do it."

"Really?"

"Of course, I'll tell you what; if you manage to get it right in ten seconds, I'll take you to a water park."

"It's a promise okay? Mommy and daddy are coming too right?"

"You can count on it." Eva placed her hands on the orb again, bringing the orb back to life. Like a pendulum, the light swayed again, reducing its swing arc with each pass through the centre. Then it stilled to a perfect balance. It was a warm glow. I peered at Eva's face; wiped away the small beads of sweat and said: "Congratulations." Her eyes were closed. "Eva?" The girl jumped to the air, pumping her tiny fist over and over again.

"I did it!"

"Yes you did, now let's tell your father of the good news."

"Yup!" I took the orb away from Eva and poured magic into it. Within seconds, a young man filled replaced the transparency. "Daddy!" He was shocked at first which then melted into joy.

"Sweetheart! What's up?"

"Ul is taking us to a water park!"

"That's great!" All of the sudden, everything turned cold. The elated smile contorted to that of a murderer. "You think that solves everything?" Grey mist swallowed everything. "Nothing will change."

"That's why I'm trying to repay back for what I've done."

"What will that accomplish!?" He sneered. "Will that bring back all the futures and potential you've stolen?" Eye lids stretching to its limits. "No one will acknowledge anything you do! We're filthy creatures, overlooking the good and focusing on the bad. You'll be an outcast for life. Just admit it, you're just doing this for self-satisfaction. All you your work is nothing but chasing after false gratitude. You're still a monster!" I wanted to scream, dispute his claims but, I couldn't. That would mean being confident that what I'm doing isn't just for satisfaction but from the bottom of my heart.

And it's true, every time I see the effects of what we've done, a small bubble would appear. It was warm, tiny and fleeting; just like a bubble, it was delicate. I've come to enjoy that bubble; at the same time, I feel that nothing has changed. Perhaps a little nudge could change me back. The orb joined with the surrounding and things got hazy.

I was back on my bed with the sheets kicked away, my clothes were a mess too. I stretched and hopped out perhaps it was thanks to Eva, or the medicine, whatever the case, that was the best dream I had in a long time. Now to see if Meredy is done.

* * *

I found Meredy in her room and wearing a different set of clothes than when I first came back; a pearl cardigan along with a pair of loose brown trousers. She was enjoying a cup of tea while she compiled what I assumed to be information she got from the trio I brought back.

"Did you have a good rest?" She asked, taking a sip of her drink.

"What happened to the three?" I asked as I took a seat on her bed. Meredy rested her head on my shoulder and sighed.

"I got Jellal to take them away."

"He's awake?"

"Fifteen minutes ago. But never mind that, please tell me what's happening to you." Then I was my turn to sigh.

"Straight to the point huh?"

"You told me a hunter never lets an opportunity go."

"I wish you could grow up normally many, many times," I tucked away a loose strand behind Meredy's ear, "instead, I taught you allll that…"

"I'm not falling for that again."

"These are my true thoughts, I'm not running away, I will tell you what's happening. I've…been having nightmares for a while now. They're about what I've done. I feel like my regrets are coming back to attack me and wear me down until I collapse. And I can't get used to them. Every time I think that I did, it'll change to a different one. Sometimes, it'll change at random." Meredy let my confession slowly fall to the ground, she digged at her nails and pinched her hair.

"Why didn't you tell me?" She asked in a low murmur.

"I didn't want to worry you. At first, I thought it would just go away. It only got worse at time went on. I was reminded of everything I've did, the people I've killed, the people I cheated, lives I've ruined. I was so stupid at the time, a selfish woman that couldn't accept my past and move on. I don't deserve you." I pulled Meredy into a hug. It was a tight one, I felt that if I loosened up even for a little, all that I have right now would go away. Going back to what I used to be…scares me more than anything else.

"Don't say that," she returned the affection, quickly wrapping her hands around my back and rubbing it slowly, "though you say I was also one of your victims, you still managed to take of me to this day, you showered me with your all love because you have no other places to pour it. And what I've learned from all these years of being your daughter is that deep down, you're one of the kindest people out there. I won't go anywhere." Those three words made me loosen up. "I'll always be your daughter."

"Thank you." We sat there for a while, and for this was one the few times in my life, where I lost track of time. I just wanted to enjoy this for as long as possible

"You know, I feel lucky."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm one of the few people to have ever seen this side of you—the real you. Everyone else assumes you're a cruel person. They couldn't be further away from the truth."

"I guess the doctor was right, talking about It with someone I trust will help."

"You didn't need to see a doctor to know that, I could have told you."

"I'm working on my problems with doctors."

"Liar." I smiled and tugged on her hair lightly.

"I should work on that too."

"For my sake, please do."

"I've spoilt you too much."

"But that's why you're the best mom ever."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Yeah, I sure took my sweet time without a good quality improvement. However, that's mainly because I have an assignment I need to hand in soon, so I need all the time I I could get. At the same time, this chapter was close to completion and it weighted in my head for a long time, to the point where I couldn't focus on my assignment until I wrap this up.**

 **With that said, I won't be writing for around two weeks so I am do my work, which most likely means the next chapter would be posted three weeks from now or even later.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!**


	4. Chapter 4: A Trip

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Meredy has left to capture Norton. And much to my reluctance, she still insists on me taking a break from my work, especially after I told her about my nightmares. Honestly, what a troublesome daughter. I was sitting on my bed; back touching the headboard; wrapped snuggly with sheets and reading a book. While learning of the success story of a businessman is riveting, my feet shifted the sheets and I found myself scratching the pages. I closed the book and gently placed it on my pillow; the pitter-patter of rainfall finally pushed its way into my head. I turned to the window. It was a small rain, just enough to warrant an umbrella, but you won't be in much trouble without one. Was the rain the same back then?

I wandered to the past; one of the biggest turning points of my life, when I saw mother's final messages. And perhaps that's why I take long baths ever since then. I limit myself when I must of course, but, every time I'm submerged in water, I'm closest to peace. I would reach out to grab nothing when I expected to be pulled back in my memories. For once, I pulled something, her resting place. A quick glance at my calendar confirmed it. My mother's death anniversary is today.

Such an important date like that one, pushed aside my nightmares and my work load—I forgotten to prepare—it takes a terrible daughter to raise a terrible daughter I guess. At the very least, I think I now understand a little bit of what she felt. I got out of my bed and began to write a slip to Jellal.

* * *

Now disguised and roaming a lively street, I'm focused completely on catch-up work. Every year, I struggle to buy something, I never really knew what my mother liked. That's why I get Meredy to buy everything, hoping that we're similar enough and Meredy buys the right things. Now I have to do this by myself, the thought of it is enough to give me a different kind of nightmare.

I soon was immersed with a lovely floral scent, a concoction of smells to the point where I couldn't tell the difference between each flower, perhaps a Dragon-slayer would fare better. Regardless, not smelling what each flower was like didn't have any impact in what I'm going for. Since Meredy isn't here, I was going for the only flower that I was certain of. Roses were something that could be considered as iconic to my mother. We do change the kind of flowers every year, Meredy insisted for some reason that she wouldn't explain. However, since my assistant isn't here, I went for the safest option, which happened to the first flower we used.

Leaving the store with a bundle of flowers, I was debating whether to go to Galuna Island with an airship, or a boat. Unfortunately, the stigma of the island being cursed is still here despite the years that have past—Not that the rumours is completely baseless, nor would they want visitors flooding their home, an island filled with demons would accumulate some kind of story, it does make travelling there inconvenient. In the past, we tried both ways, the airship was faster but, you can't really buy or rent one without a good enough reason. Which is why I ended up standing on a beach, making my own boat to sail on.

The wind was nice, coming in with clean, short bursts that blew droplets of rain to my hair. The boat was small, just big enough for one person; a canoe would be accurate, the only difference being that instead of paddling, I'm spinning a propeller with magic. Calm waves, cool breeze, and being tickled with rain; the coolness from my canoe reminds me of my hometown. I don't have much memories of that place, only vague flailing at snow outside the window and playing around in the snow with my mother. I've been there a few times in the seven years, even living there for a while—the longest in any of our stays. I wanted to experience the same lifestyle as her. To this day, I'm still chasing after her.

Bobbing on the ocean, seeing nothing but horizon wherever I look; under the subtle sound of splashing from my propeller, provokes an urge to think and dive back on what I've done—places I've been and what to do onwards. I checked my map and compass, turning slightly and got back to my secluded room.

Soon, I worked my imagination—or exercise for my ice-make—looking at darker blots in the clouds and gave them meaning. This exercise really isn't helping me anymore since I established a style to my magic, it's now delegated to a boring way to pass time. A hazy shape of a bed formed; a song slowly worked its way from my head to my mouth. A lullaby past down from Ur to me to Meredy. I was pouring my heart out whilst wandering in the solitude. My emotions along with the constant need to keep my propeller running didn't let me fall to the song.

I was starting to feel drained when I finally saw the silhouette of Galuna Island. In a way, you could say that this place was the catalyst that became the basis of me going down the path of good. Having said that, the island didn't change in the year since I visited, I could see a harbour housing a few fishing ships.

A clean beach backed by a wall of trees, a blurry mountain marked my destination; I increased my magic flow and made sure the flowers were still there. Stepping out my boat, I noticed the tide has risen a fair bit since I started my trip. If I were to take a soak, the ware should reach my knees. Since I didn't bring a another set of clothes, I tossed away the thought and hid in the trees.

Though I've been here every year, I never once talked with the locals, I'm sure they don't even know they have visitors on an annual basis—I intend to keep it that way. They kept contact with us to a minimum of their own choice and I want to abide to those wishes. Besides, a criminal never makes for a good ambassador.

I followed a dirt trail up a hill, deeper into the forest, keeping a look-out for any animals nearby. Right now, chirping from birds—whining from insects—masked an impressive amount of my footsteps; crunching leaves and snapping twigs. With the weakening daylight, my attention was split between the ground, and the gaps trees failed to fill. I loosened up once nothing dangerous was around, shifting focus to food I can gather. Reaching for a fruit, I was taken back to when I was teaching Meredy about edible plants.

* * *

It started after a few weeks I took her in. We were camping to strengthen her magic. Thinking back, taking a nearly powerless, most certainly ignorant child deep in a forest, where predators could strike at any moment was a bad idea, I can't deny how much the trip taught her however. We just set up a tent, half of it was properly secured while the other half was loose and danced to the wind. At the time, I was terrible to Meredy.

"Come one!" I still regret about it to this day, "What are you going to do if the wind takes the cloth away?" It wasn't like a mother scolding her child—we weren't that close—but a master disappointed in a servant; cold, one slight push before exploding to a fiery blaze.

"Sorry…I'll do it again."

"Hurry up," I took a seat on a rock, "we don't have all day. You remember the first lesson I taught, don't you?"

"Yes," she responded, picking up a mallet, "time is precious." I still wasn't sure why I took Meredy in, I assumed it as a whim, albeit a terrible one. I glanced around to make sure that nothing was going to attack, just the same green leaves and moss-covered rocks. No sound aside from wind, to make things worse, canopies made it harder to see—perfect to train someone's sense, terrible for a child.

"Are you finished?" I asked, getting up from the rocks and peering over Meredy's shoulder.

"Ah, yes, please check it." I tugged on the fabric and was met with a good resistance.

"So you can do a decent job. Come one, we got work to do."

"Yes." She said with a proud smile; a child experiencing success for the first time, this was what started a more friendly relationship.

"Follow me," I said, picking up a backpack while turning a bush to dust.

"Yes." Little drums ran towards me. Then I felt a tug on my sleeve.

"Too loud," I smacked Meredy's head lightly, "you'll attract animals. And let go, if we get attacked, we can't take proper action."

"But I'm scared." Her words made me realise her trembling fingers.

"Then be scared, you'll get used to it soon. You were fine just a while ago weren't you?"

"That's because you were there to watch over me."

A sigh later, "just for a while alright? Once we find a water source, let go."

"I'll try my best."

"You're a pain to take care of."

As we walked, I taught Meredy about the edible plants; berries, leaves even what kid of bark is more desirable, occasionally telling her about herbs if we come across some.

"Of course," I picked up a worm that was tunnelling down, "you'll eat bugs if you have to."

"But they're gross!"

"Some still have toxins, avoid bright coloured ones—"

"Listen!"

"Though that's not reliable at all, so make sure you what it is before you eat it, that applies to plants and animals too."

"I don't want to!" At that moment, I grew sick of her whining.

"Lesson number two," Meredy flinched at my voice, "sometimes, life doesn't give you a choice, get over it and make do with what you have. If you really don't want to eat bugs, for now, you can. This place is teeming with plenty of plants you can eat. So pay attention. As punishment, you're foraging your own food for dinner." I let go of the worm. When it touched the ground, pink hair flung wildly

"Why?" Meredy shook my sleeves, "what for? What about lunch?"

"For interrupting me and acting like a spoilt brat. Don't worry, you're still under training, I won't let you practise magic on an empty stomach, so I'll get us lunch." A sigh escaped Meredy as she patted her chest, then her eyes became solid and never wandered away from what I was pointing to. If I remembered correctly, I had a small smile as I continued to teach.

Just as we found a river, tremors and pounding paws announced danger. It came from Meredy's side, a rushing brown blur, massive jaws, arms as wide as a torso. I threw Meredy away from me; forming a rose wall. If I had my other arm, it would have been much stronger, it didn't surprise me at all to see the wall crumble. But instead of backing off, a paw swiped at me. Just in time, I avoided a direct hit by shielding most of the claws. Warm liquid ran from my palm to my forearm, dripping off at the elbow. A pitiful roar shook nearby leaves as the beast had its brain pierced from behind.

"Ur!" Meredy—who crashed to the ground—ran over.

"Don't call me by that name!"

"You're hurt…"

"This is why I told you to let go. Had you listened to me, I wouldn't be in this mess."

"S—sorry." The battle rush was starting to wear off, introducing a sharp sting that burned as air blew at the wound. To keep a strong image, I ignored the pain and flicked Meredy's forehead.

"Lesson two remember? If you have times to make useless apologies, get me some RedBloom. I taught you what they looked like yes? I didn't plan on giving you a test just yet, but let's see if you've been paying attention."

While Meredy scurried away with the speed of a bee, I took out a pestle and mortar, bandages and gauze pads. I prepared some disinfectant. The roar should keep the predators away for a while, Meredy was relatively safe. I thought that Meredy dying to an animal now would mean my eye for talent still needs work.

Meredy returned with a large bundle of Redbloom—red star-shaped leaves with red flowers—not even letting growing ones escape. Tears drew two lines that converged at her chin, wetting her shirt. Two patches of blood started from her knees as well.

"You got too much, didn't you consider keeping some around for them to grow?"

"But, but, if I got more, Ur would get better quicker right?"

"Don't call me—" Somehow, seeing Meredy's round eyes and her helpless smile stopped my next words. "Fine, grind a quarter of the leaves you gathered and put some on the gauze. It's not the best treatment but, we'll make do for now."

"Huh? Isn't that too much?"

"So you have been paying attention," I poked Meredy's head, "did you forget about your knees? Come on, hurry up." A sniff and a tear-stained smile later, Meredy got to work.

"Yes!"

I poured disinfectant on my palm, wiping away any dirt and fur that was stuck. Once I smelled the sharp, mint-like aroma of Rebloom, I hand Meredy a gauze.

"Good, now apply it to that."

"Done." Meredy returned a gauze stained with red fibres. Lightly pressing it to the cut, the stinging intensified, burning hot, like juggling coals.

"Watch closely," I secured the pad by wrapping the bandage around my hand, enough to keep the gauze in place, not restricting my movements too much, "now for you." Meredy watched as a red spot grew on my palm, earning another flick to the head, "come on, you need to treat those wounds." Meredy trudged closer and I poured disinfectant over her knees, getting rid if any dirt and mud.

"It hurts."

"Bear with it, you got us in this, at least take the responsibility."

"Y—yes…"

"If you think that hurts, wait until I put this on." Ice bands anchored Meredy 's limbs.

"What's going—"

"I can't have you moving around, it'll be quick, don't worry." I prepared two more gauze pads, pressing them to Meredy's knees. The reaction was instant, cries—that I silenced—shot out, tears streaked across her cheeks; her body fought against her binds, shaking like a wild monkey. "Trust me," making my voice soft, I had one hand over Meredy's mouth, the other on her knees, "it'll be quick. What were you thinking? Screaming like that, you want to attract more beast?" Her movements mellowed but twitch increased. After wrapping the bandages, Meredy was released.

"It hurts." She moans, rubbing her knees.

"Not as much as before, right?" She nodded, "then let's keep going, we need to fetch some water."

"What about that?" Meredy pointed to the thing I killed. It was like a bear, only having longer claws and had hard bristles growing from it's back. I walked over; summoned an ice blade and tore an arm off, freezing the while thing in the next moment.

"This will be lunch. You're still growing, so it's important to have a balanced diet whenever possible."

"We're not taking all of it?"

"If you can carry it all, be my guest." Meredy stared at the ground after that. Just then, I spotted a yellow fruit, oblong in shape with orange bumps, "just perfect," I pointed to the fruit, "those are Orange Pellers, help me gather some."

"Okay."

"Don't take too much." I warned, ignoring an Orange Peller with red bumps.

In about twenty minutes, we gathered enough food for a meal. Now back at our camp, I checked to see if Meredy had internalised what I said. Clearly not, seeing that she was holding fruits with red bumps among the ones I told her to pick.

"Idiot!" I smack the fruits out her hand. "I told you not to take anything you don't know."

"They're not just unripe?"

"Of course not, why would you even take unripe fruit in the first place? I didn't warn you about these to see if you were listening to what I told you, and you weren't."

"I'm sorry…" Her eyes were moist; lips crinkling to a hateful shape. Sighing again, I rubbed Meredy's head.

"If you cry, I'm leaving you," she stiffened, "but it'll be troublesome to have you die from eating something strange," another sigh, "fine, today, I'll take care of dinner as well," Meredy smiled brightly, "that doesn't mean your punishment is over, I'm postponing it until tomorrow. So pay attention. If you still pick something poisonous, I won't help you with it—quite the opposite actually. I'll see it as you wanting to build up a poison immunity. And as your teacher, I'll help you with every step of the way." I finished with a cold smile.

"I—I don't want that!" Meredy took a step back.

"Just get a fire started, I'm skinning this arm."

"R—right away!"

* * *

The sweetness of the Orange Peller flooded my mouth. My hunger slowly faded with each core I tossed around. That camp was just the start of Meredy and I's relationship. Throwing away the final core, I stared at a cave entrance: the home of Ur's grave.

Walking inside, my hand traced the walls of a well-lit tunnel. From our previous trips here, we've been adding light lacrimas we took from dark guild, I walked with roses clutched in my hands and a mind swimming with thought: what words to say, whether roses are acceptable—did I have any right to visit her grave? When Meredy was beside me, she would keep my mind off things with small talk. Perhaps she knew this would happen. She insisted on coming with me every time—giving her thanks to her grandmother, she called it.

My path opened to a large room that overlooked the ocean. Before, mother's ice shell rested here. Replacing it, was a house. More like a hut, Meredy and I made this on our third trip here. It was a cone-shaped hut you would build if you get stranded. I took off my shoes before getting in.

"I'm home."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Did I advance the story much? Not really, I just had a lot of fun writing about young Meredy learning under Ultear so I decided to post it. I could have put a part of the next chapter in here but, I felt like that would undermine the flashback I wrote.**

 **Anyway, surprise, surprise I'm asking for some chapter ideas again. I'm terrible at this really. That's not to say that I don't have a mainstory line, I just can't think of anything to put in-between all the major plot points. If you got anything good, please feel free to tell me. To be perfectly honest, all I can think of is using festivals and holidays as a setting. Those who's read my stories would know that means I'm just going to be repeating a chapter and someone's birthday. I don't have that much of a problem if it's something like Christmas since I see it as celebrating with my audience. That being said, I do want to avoid re-hashing the same ideas over and over again even though they're separate stories.**

 **Hopefully I can get back on track with the story, not writing for two weeks to finish my assignment really screwed with my sense of pacing in the story. I don't want to repeat the slow nature I had in my previous fic.**

 **I hope you enjoyed this chapter, have a nice day!**


	5. Chapter 5: One Path to Another

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

It's a hut made of nothing but branches and small logs. It's cramped, barely having room to squeeze two people in. It's falling apart—we'll have to do some maintenance soon—loose twigs hung by a few strands of fibre, moss and fungus crawled over the place, invading in the hut. However, I walked in with a smile. Inside the hut, a small gravestone stood, polished, cleaner than anything else in the room. My mother's name was engraved cleanly at the centre. I placed the roses below the grave. Moonlight shone through from outside, the tides were at its peak, and a cool breeze blew in.

"I'm sorry for being late, a few more hours and I would have missed your anniversary, a lot has been going on," I didn't know why, perhaps encouraged by waves echoing in the chamber, I just spoke out my mind, hoping that the heaviness in my heart would lift—and it did somewhat, "lately, my life has been more hectic. Still, I can't really believe it. It's gone to the point where Meredy is worrying about me. I must be a terrible mother, not like you. I wish you can meet her, though it's a shame that you can't see her when she was a lot cuter.

"What should I do mom? I've been having nightmares for a while now. It didn't start when I came here last time," I already told her what I could, I didn't want to leave, this was my excuse, "they're about the things I did. For all these years, I've been doing my best to atone for what I've done, I know this won't erase my past, just like knowing the truth won't bring you back.

"I won't give up though, this world still has so many things left for me to do. Back to my question, how do I move on from all of this? I thought that by accepting my sins and by facing them would stop these nightmares. They didn't help at all. Does this mean I didn't really move on?

"Sorry for bringing this up when I'm visiting you like this, especially considering what day it is. I'm always bringing trouble to you. I'll bring Meredy with me next time, maybe my schedule won't be as packed. Thanks for listening to me, I love you." As I turned around to leave the grave behind, a voice shot the echoing waves.

"There you are, its not like you to come here so late," I turned around and faced Meredy wearing an annoyed expression, "why didn't you tell me?" I sighed and scratched my head. When she gets like this, even her work doesn't do it as a leash.

"You were away weren't you? Something like my mother's death anniversary isn't worth slowing down your work." Meredy slammed the cave walls, bearing me down with a penetrating fury of green.

"Don't degrade grandmother like that!" She snapped. I simmered my rising magic knowing Meredy didn't mean it. But she still has lots of work to do, of course I felt bad saying that. In the end I can't let a dead person get in the way of our work, even if that person is my mother.

"The longer Norton gets to roam free, the more people will be affected." I explained using my calmest tone possible.

"That doesn't matter. Right now, Norton doesn't mean anything."

"To you, maybe not. What about the people who can't see their friends again? Or the children who lost their parent because of some sicko?" Meredy grimaced and I pushed past my own guilt and continued, "we can't let personal matters get in the way. That's why I tried so hard to ignore my nightmares."

"I know that," Meredy screamed, "I know…you taught me. But even so, we shouldn't treat grandmother like nothing. She's more important than some scum. Ul may not have experienced a mother's love fully so you wouldn't understand. But if anyone told me to disregard anything that involves you for the sake of work, I wouldn't forgive them," Meredy looked at my mother's grave calmly, "who knows how many people that demon would have killed if it wasn't for her. That's all the more reason to honour her death properly, to make time from our schedules and celebrate what she's done."

"We can do that with just me."

"That's not the point!" She stamped her foot down.

"Then get to it."

Biting her lips, Meredy opened up, "I'm worried. I don't want you to break down and start working yourself even harder. I told you, Ul's my first priority. I couldn't care less about Norton if it means you destroying yourself. Jellal said you've been restless while I was gone, he told me to return as quickly as possible."

"So that's why you're here," I sighed, I'm losing my touch, for Jellal to notice these kinds of things, "you worry too much, besides, you're still too young to start sticking your nose into my business."

"But you get weird thoughts swimming all over your head…" Meredy kicked the dirt, "you restrain yourself for the sake of others."

"And that's how it should be. Do you think we should be thinking something like pursuing happiness? We can't."

"But I want Ul to be happy!" With her coming out, it acted as the dam breaker, letting tears drip. "I know we should have those thoughts, its selfish, but no one else knows how much you've suffered. Isn't it weird that everyone gets to be happy, but you can't? Just because you and your mother got tricked? Just because you were used? Just because you've made mistake? None of those were you own choice!"

Seeing her unstable state, heaving chest and quaking eyes. I let Meredy's shaking weaken before walking over, I used my sleeve to wipe away her tears. Honestly, I wonder whether I did a good job in teaching her, she's still a child in my eyes, vulnerable as a flower in winter.

"Are you happy?"

"Huh?" I flicked her forehead.

"Answer the question."

"Of course, you gave it to me."

"There you go."

"What?"

"While you've certainly been on the receiving side of a mother's love, you have nothing on the giving side…did you think I'm not happy when I'm with you? I may not the most diverse source of happiness, nor would I be entitled to them, for someone like me, I'm perfectly content. Would it be great if I fall in love, settle down, live a peaceful yet mundane life, have a legal job, not worry about getting hunted down, join society or have a dream to work towards? Of course. However," I hugged Meredy and enjoyed her warmth, her shaking finally stopped as she returned the hug, "as it is now, just living with you two, doting on a lovely daughter, for me, that's enough. Anything extra is nothing short of a miracle, it would be unreasonable to ask for more than that.

"You're right about me not having much of a choice in this life. The few choices I did make, I have no regrets, and you're the best one I've ever made." While I let my words sink in, I continued to form more words. Then it occurred to me how embarrassing those words were for me to say. "Do you remember lesson two?" Meredy nodded and recited it perfectly.

"Sometimes, life doesn't give you a choice, get over it and make do with what you have." I smiled and hugged tighter, pressing my lips close to Meredy's ears.

"Those words got me into lots of trouble, at the same time, they brought me you, they brought my happiness." We stayed like this for a while, letting the crashing waves tick by…one…five…ten, then we pulled away, "now are you reassured that I have everything under control?" A nod. "Then it's time to get back to work, I don't want to see you abandoning your duties again." Another nod. "Do you have anything you want to say to grandma?"

"Please watch over Ul."

"She'll do that without you telling her. Let's go. You're not going to start worrying about me again are you?"

"Maybe."

"Wait for five more years." I smirked.

* * *

The capture of Norton went off without any other incidents, Meredy didn't get distracted anymore and luckily, she stopped him before anymore people became slaves. Now, we were sitting next to each other on a sofa, reading a book under a well-lit room and enjoying some rest after a week of working ourselves to capture Norton.

"Ul?" Meredy said, flipping pages added to her words.

"Hmm?"

"It's almost time for us to move isn't it?"

"It has been two months," she did make a point, we do tend to move hideouts every few months or so, mainly to make it harder for others to track us. We don't choose a random location, we pick places where we hear something dangerous is about to happen, "assuming Jellal doesn't come back with some news, we'll be free to choose any place we want, did you have any plans?"

"I want to live in a city this time, it's inconvenient living in the middle of nowhere."

"Can you deny the results of our secrecy?"

"No," Meredy sighed, "but gathering food everyday wastes a lot of time."

"Then we deal with money problems, you know we don't have the biggest budget."

"It's enough to live a comfy lifestyle." She pouted. And this is generally when I give up on trying to reason with Meredy and abide to her wishes.

"We'll see if Jellal has anything for us." The doors slammed open, Jellal walked in with his blue bangs covering his face, but I could tell he was in deep thought. A stack of papers clutched tightly in his hands. "Sorry Meredy, maybe next time. So?" I faced our blue-haired companion, "what made you so jumpy?"

"Well," Jellal started, collapsing next to Meredy, "I received word that the dark guilds are planning something. They're going after Magnolia." His intense gaze shifted to the ceiling, perhaps the white paint was turning red, a beautiful shade of scarlet with streaks of silk that defined a rough shape.

"She can take care of herself you know, why are you so worked up?"

"I know she can… it's just…I'm still worried."

"Meredy, pack your bags, we're moving to Magnolia."

"Wait a second!" Jellal jolted in his seat, "I didn't say we're moving there."

"While you may take the lead most of the time, we agreed to vote whenever we have dividing opinions. Obviously, I say we're moving to Magnolia," I pointed to a humming Meredy as she walked up a flight of stairs, "and does she look like she's against it?" Jellal groaned and rubbed his temples.

"Why should we move to one of the highest profile cities in the kingdom?"

"Come on, we both know you're worried about Erza," I looped an arm around his shoulder, staring squarely at his eyes, a little push; and we're moving, "I know you beat yourself sometimes when you couldn't help her, this time would be the perfect time to settle your regrets."

"I don't want to hear that from a woman that's still hounded by her past." Jellal parried. That's right, Meredy told him, didn't she? I'm really getting rusty at this.

"At least I'm trying to solve it. You, on the other hand, you're just sitting here, making excuses."

"We can't chase after people from the other side." He raised his voice, throwing out his final defence. And checkmate.

"I'm not telling you to. It's been eating at you this entire time hasn't it? Every time we hear news about Fairy Tail—ones that involves Erza especially so—you had this painful look in your eyes. I know you're getting slower. The intel you gather is slowing down, the dark guilds you're fighting takes much longer than you used to. If I should see a doctor to shed my problems, then I don't think it's that big of a stretch to have you deal with your troubles first, then focus on work." Jellal hunched over and stayed silent.

"We're leaving the moment this incident is over alright?" He sighed, getting up, handing over the stack of papers he was holding. "That's all the information I gathered so far, give it a read once we finished moving."

"Roger that."

"Now you're listening to my orders." Jellal smiled wryly to which I returned a cheeky one.

"I'm your friend first and foremost," I stashed away the papers under my arm and followed Meredy's path upstairs, "you should be more honest this time."

"Just go pack, you two always take too long."

"It's not very polite, to rush ladies you know. But I'll let things off this time." Once I got to the room Meredy and I shared, I found her shoving a dress in a suitcase. "Good news, he gave us the pass."

"How did you do that?" She frowned, but not because she was confused, but annoyed that her luggage was already half-full.

"Love is a powerful thing."

"He really isn't honest, I bet he's dancing downstairs right now." While the thought of a serious person like Jellal dancing brought a smile to my lips, it's regrettable that it would never become reality.

"I wouldn't go that far," I pulled out a wool-y coat from the luggage, "do you really need this? Magnolia doesn't get that cold. You can just put this in storage, can't you?"

"Well, you never know right? Lesson three, always be prepared." Meredy said as she threw me a hopeful look, earning her a poke to the forehead.

"Don't use my teachings like that. We've been moving constantly for seven years, why is it now that you can't control yourself?"

"That one's my favourite."

"It doesn't matter, just store it somewhere, we made storage houses for a reason."

"Fine."

After packing the bare necessities, I sat down on my bed and began to flip through what Jellal gathered—while messy, these were his writing, albeit rushed. Disturbance around Lacrima mines, some being stolen, a massive spike in demand for them. So far, nothing really indicates that people are coming for Magnolia. I flipped another page…honestly, what a lucky guy. Coming across a lacky, and a weak-willed one at that. But still, striking fear into the kingdom, and they're going to start with Fairy Tail. Clearly, these people never seen their rage. An intense wildfire.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Now I can explain why this took longer than most chapters. I mentioned before that I had an assignment to do. Turns out, after I was done with that, the teacher just dumped a group project on me. Adding the fact that my semester was almost done, tests galore! The end result; I only had the chance to write recently.**

 **What sucked the most was that I this chapter is to introduce a new arc. But since I couldn't write for a while, I forgot most of the stuff I planned. While I did write notes, the atmosphere and thought process is gone, which means my writing might be a bit all over the place. Which I think shows in this chapter. Hopefully, I'll sort things out soon.**

 **As always, I hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!**


	6. Chapter 6: The Request for Help

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

After breaking through the final tree, we've finally arrived. Just below a cliff watching over it, was a beautiful city. Though it was midnight, tiny specks of light shone—blinking like a fire in the cold. If have to talk about ideal cities, Magnolia is as close as it gets. Even from here, I could make out cheers spawning from drunken stupor. Buildings were spreading out like a mountain, all but one exemption. By the side of a lake, was Magnolia's pride and joy, its beacon of rowdiness and activity; Fairy Tail. The fact that it was acting as a lighthouse in the dead of night shows the guild isn't sleeping. This town would be our home for the next while.

"What do you think?" I looked at Meredy. However, everyone else would just see a red-head girl looking at Magnolia with her blue eyes in expectation. I tucked my own red locks behind my ears, "hello? Rachael?" I shook Meredy's shoulders.

"It's lovely…" I then turned to Jellal, now showing off black hair and brown eyes. Hiding his signature mark, was a scar that slashed across his eye. While cliché, it was the best that we could do.

"I don't think it's a mistake to come here now is it Mark?"

"Let's just go greet our landlord." He replied, and it was a heavy one, filled with weariness from my remarks and travelling.

"You're right, you do that, I'll talk to the guild master. Rachael, what do you want to do?"

"I'll go with sis." I grinned and handed Jellal my luggage, Meredy followed suit.

"Smart choice."

"I hate you two." Jellal groaned. He slugged Meredy's bags over his shoulders and sandwiched mine under his arm.

"Good luck with that, I'm pretty sure I didn't pack anything too heavy in there." I took Meredy by the hand and went the opposite direction of where Jellal was walking.

Now that I think about it, this will be the first time that I've ever step foot inside the Fairy Tail building. I've interacted with its members on a semi-regular basis, but never been inside the heart of their organisation. Seeing it up close really does give off a different vibe from pictures. We past the arc that hoist the guild mark proudly and was faced with a red-brown door. Looking up will find a large tower that raised a flag sporting the guild colours. Muffed cheering and laughter boomed from inside. Which does raise the question; when does this guild sleep? I'll find that out pretty soon.

"Ready?" I asked Meredy.

"Go ahead." I push the door slightly. Surprisingly, a door of that size swung with ease. Possibly because it needed to, or the rough treatment will break the door. I'll admit, from the sound, I thought I was going to walk into a party, or a chaotic typhoon fuelled by alcohol. Reality was a lot less boisterous, with only around twenty people creating the atmosphere. Gathered in groups of four, tables were occupied—but they still weren't that far apart from each group. The bar was where most people hammered mugs and slammed wood. Behind it, Mirajane was busy pouring was seemed to be beer into a large mug. Her white hair was tied into a ponytail that whipped around each time someone shouted a request.

"Hello," the one greeting us was Lisanna, sweat beading on her forehead as she tucked away a serving tray under her arm "it's quite late for guests, are you two travellers?"

"Something like that, we're planning to stay here for a while." I responded.

"Great! How can we help? Are you looking for a place to stay for the time being? I can recommend a few places. If its just the two of you, you can stay at Fairy Hills until you find a new place to move into. The rent _can_ be a bit much."

"Actually, we already have a place to stay." I smiled at her energy, "would it be too much trouble for you to lead us to Master Makarov?" Then Lisanna looked slightly wary of us.

"Master never holds meeting this late at night, did make plans with him?"

"Not…exactly, we're indebted to him, so since we're staying here, we want to give our thanks as soon as possible."

"Well," Lisanna's eyes squinted, "I'll take you to him, if he doesn't recognise you…we'll give you two a chance to explain." Each step we followed Lisanna means less time to find a way out of the mess I made, but still, we advanced, making sure to keep a good distance in-case I have something to tell Meredy. I'm really getting rusty. Meredy tapped on my shoulders and whispered in my ears.

"What do we do now?"

"We'll just have to hand him the notes the moment we talk to him, I don't want to—" I spotted a pink surprise in midst of brown and black hair. It was hidden before, but now that we're closer to the bar, I could make out a confident smile and a sharp jawline. His laughter should have been a dead giveaway that Natsu was here, even if I don't have a supernatural sense of hearing. "I think I have an idea." I whispered back. I was planning on tapping his shoulders once we got close enough. However, his head turned; our eyes met; I waved; his nose twitched. His smile widened and glowed like the sun as he waved back; I motioned him over but placed a finger over my lips, hopefully he won't tell Lisanna who I really am.

"Yo! You should have told me you were coming!"

"Natsu? You know these two?" Instantly, all animosity left Lisanna and the sunshine girl from before came back.

"Yeah, we met when I was on a job, we had lunch together too." In a stroke of luck someone called for another round of drinks. "If that's the case, can you take them to Master for me?"

"Sure." Once Lisanna left, sighs escaped our lips. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," I replied, "Thanks for not telling her who we really are."

"Why?" So he didn't see my tells.

"Just when I thought your brain improved somewhat, you're still to same muscle-head."

"Hey!"

"More importantly, can you take us to the Master? We have important things to tell him."

"Got it, but don't think I'll forget this."

"If you did, it'll just prove my point." For the first few seconds of our guide being switched, a lovely pout was added, teasing him is always great fun.

A few steps later, Natsu shouted, "hey gramps, some people want to talk with you."

"Hmmm?" Someone grumbled behind a wall of backs. "Natsu huh? Someone wants to talk with me? This late at night?" A mug was crashed against a table and I finally could see Fairy Tail's Guild Master. A small bag hugged his reddening eyes—never in focus—possibly from the long day of dealing with this rowdy bunch. His cheeks were red, the shade you get from wandering in winter exposed. Instead of cold, it was alcohol blowing his senses away. Other than that, nothing much changed about him the last I saw him, his small stature is as comical as always and veil of kindness was ever present. He stared at us for a second, and glint flash across his eye.

I pulled out Jellal's notes and handed it to him, "please give this a read first." He hummed a little tune as he read the paper, swinging his legs along with the beat. That all stopped. Every trace of alcohol was flushed out, a sober, angry Guild Master sat—slightly crumpling the paper. He leaked a small amount of magic, then it vanished.

"Come to my office." He hopped off his seat and led us to a dark brown door. "Natsu, don't you dare eavesdrop, or I'll have Erza personally teach you manners again."

"Aye!" Natsu squealed.

The Guild Master's office was cramped, most of the space was taken by book shelves. Paired with a larger than average work desk and two chairs for guests to sit equates to a dusty and tightening room. His desk was littered with letters—separated into two piles; ones that were carefully bound with string; ones randomly tossed.

"Have a seat," Makarov said, jumping behind his desk, to a chair that's too big for him. We dusted off the wooden chairs and followed along with his words. "It's safe for you two to take off your disguise."

"I'm surprised you can see through it." I was the first to take off the spell, then Meredy undid hers.

"We do take pride in this spell." Meredy added.

"I've lived a long life," he smiled wryly, "also, no two people would want to talk with me at this time without a good reason. Still, I wouldn't have expected you two. This means Jellal is here too?"

"He's taking care of our housing."

"I still haven't had the chance to thank you three for making my children grow stronger."

"It was a fair trade," I cut in, "we didn't do anything that deserves thanks."

"Nevertheless, this is a good time for us to return the favor. How truth worthy is this information?"

"Jellal never went wrong with things like this." The Guild Master nodded. Then turned back to the papers.

"Honestly, they have a disturbing plan. Guilds are a huge part of fighting crime. Some are even prevented by our presences alone. To come after us means…"

"They want to throw the kingdom into chaos. Once people know Fairy Tail can be taken down, others will follow."

"It isn't so much that we are taken down, it's the morale that comes with it. There are talented people that walks the wrong path."

"I know, we know…we know that better than anyone…but that's enough of that," the Guild Master nodded, "for now, we need more information, who exactly are these people? Where is their headquarters? When will their plan be executed? We know too little. For now, we want help with investigating." Makarov rapped his knuckle on the desk with his eyes closed, groaned before opening his eyes again. It's understandable, Fairy Tail is famous for being destructive, finding someone that isn't a time-bomb like Natsu for intel gathering is difficult.

"In that case, I think Levy would be great for the job. I'll have Mira go with her just in case." There wasn't any problem in his suggestion, Mirajane is strong enough as a bodyguard, Levy's utility is vital for jobs like this. "I'll have a talk with them tomorrow, Levy isn't here right now."

"Then we'll come back tomorrow, Jellal is coming too, he already has some idea on where to start. One more thing, please keep this a secret from the other members, if you must, only inform the reasonable ones." If what I heard about the short-tempered members of this guild is true, telling the entire building would create too big of an impact to gather intel discreetly, the last thing we want is a bunch of angry barbarians running around the lands, interrogating any suspicious people they come across.

"I'll do that, for now, why don't you two tell me your names, your disguises."

"I'm Skye Doyle, she's Rachael Doyle. And Jellal is Mark Kenning."

"We'll save the rest for later, you two must be tired from travelling."

"Is coming in at around nine too early?" Though I would prefer arriving earlier than that, I had to keep in mind of the guild opening time and the time that each member arrives.

"No, Levy generally comes in around that time, and Mira always arrives early."

"Even though she's still working outside now?" The Guild Master chuckles.

"Today was especially lively, we had a new group of people joining us."

"We'll see you tomorrow then, don't get hungover now." I grabbed into the door handle and pushed.

"I've been drinking longer than you've been alive, I have everything under control." I swung the door open.

Now this is more like a normal guild, the number of people were cut in half, even then, some of the remaining people were currently pasted out on tables. Lisanna and Mirajane were wiping the furniture silently. In general, the guild was a nice place, it was nothing like the one I used to be a part of, it really gave the feeling of family. Warm, gentle, much like a campfire. Leaving felt odd, I didn't want to, I simply wanted to enjoy this feeling for a bit longer. The door was two steps away. In front of it, was Natsu, dimples shining brightly.

"Since you two just came here, do you want me to show you around the city?" A tempting offer, we didn't really know our way around the city, we don't even know where the market is. I almost instinctively accepted his offer, a wall got in the way.

"That'll depend on how tomorrow goes."

"Sweet!" His smile brightened, "We'll start after lunch."

"I just said that I might not come with you."

"Who cares? If you're free, I'll show you around yeah?"

"That's right but—"

"See ya tomorrow then!" It really was hard to argue with a bundle of excitement and joy, there was a twinkle in his eyes. Really, was a troublesome person. But I'm sure that's why people gather around him, and I'm no exception.

* * *

With the brightest star losing its luster, the city as well, became much tamer. At last, could I make out crickets, bird, all other nocturnal sounds. They crept up and got louder at we walked along a well-lit road. We couldn't use house lights as guides anymore, most of them just yielded hazy, black silhouettes. Streetlights, were still as reliable as ever.

"Fairy Tail is much more different." Meredy commented. Though she was looking at the cobblestone, she was peering into her past, one that I brought her into.

"Of course, our goals were unlike theirs. It still is. All they want to do is adventure, stay as one big family. We, are tied to a mission, to our responsibilities. We do have something in common, much like how they don't know when their adventure will end, we don't know when this chain will be cut."

"What will you do…once it is?" Meredy looked at me, her brilliant eyes were slightly moist. She should really stop being so hopeful.

"I suppose, I'll enjoy what I've been missing for all these years. Perhaps joining a legal guild would be nice. The chances of that happening is…"

"We can always hope right?"

"I suppose."

We came to a place that matches the address Jellal gave me. A simple, yet luxurious house stood. From the faint light coming from it, I could make out black rooftiles cresting white walls, no other decorations were present save the windows and flower troughs flanking a black door from both sides.

"How did Jellal find a place like this? And for an affordable price to boot!" Meredy too, was twinkling in excitement, to my words, reason took over and she looked around.

"Perhaps this is what cheap houses looks like in the city? Also, we've been living in crappy houses this entire time, so maybe this is the norm for many people."

"Maybe," while her explanations helped somewhat, there was still one thing pressing in my head, "this can't be very cheap to build, and seeing that Fairy Tail is the biggest spotlight here, making expensive houses doesn't make much sense."

"We can just ask Jellal right?" Truer words couldn't have been said as I press a door bell and waited. The black door opened, behind it, was Jellal in comfortable white t-shirt and sweatpants. His hair was covered with a towel, hiding his eyes. A usual poker face masked a refreshed expression, you can tell since his guard was down.

"What took you two so long? No, come inside first." He ushered us inside; he pulled away his towel, revealing his blue hair. So that's why he was in a hurry. I couldn't see much of the house, walking inside the door showed a small room—wood planks were a nice touch—walking ahead would lead to a black door, next to the door, was a staircase. I couldn't wait to fully explore this house. "So, how did the talks go?"

"Fairy Tail is willing to help us."

"That's good," a pause later, "do you want to talk about this later? After you two showered?"

"That sounds great." I answered, his words made me conscious of my clothes sticking to my skin, the dirt in my hair.

"Go up to stairs and take a right turn, the room in the back is the bathroom. Next to it is the master's room, there's a bathroom in there too. Your bags are in there too."

"We'll be back in about ten minutes, fifteen if we get too caught up in relaxing." I pushed Meredy up a flight of wooden stairs. A corridor extended from left to right, two rooms squeezed the stairwell, opposite of that, was the two rooms Jellal mentioned. We found our bags on a queen-sized bed; blue carpet sunk to our feet like quality wool; nightstands on both sides of the bed. And that's it. Just a door left which must go to the bathroom. Meredy quickly grabbed a towel and a change of clothes.

"I'll go shower in the other one, Ul can enjoy herself here." Without giving me a chance to reply, Meredy was already gone.

Ever since my life has turned from finding Zeref to finding villains, I found myself cherishing the finer, more slow parts of life. It was hard to turn away from hot water running down your skin, or vapor clouding your vision, stripping away a major part of your input. Maybe, this is what peace is like. This, is when I let my guard down.

A burning city robbed me of my breathing, it scorched my throat with burning flesh. I wasn't sure which I'm in until I saw something fluttering in the wind. The flag of Fairy Tail—burning—plummeted to the ground and gathered dirt. Houses reduced to rubble in a chain reaction. Screams—cries for help pierced fanning flames. They rang in my head, stabbed my brains like thorns around flesh. Beyond the heatwave distorting everything, a war was raging on. Fairy Tail with only revenge. Though they were gaining ground against black shadows, it was apparent: we lost. Cleaning this mess up would turn up nothing would bittersweet defeat. That's right…where Meredy!?

I fought against the pain in my limbs, my depleted magic and broke into a sprint. Under burning pillars, next to the wounded—that's where I found her. Her pink hair was stained in blood. Standing in one second, laying in the other. I ran even harder. Please, let her be alright! I knelt next to her. She's still warm, but that could be a trick of the fire.

"Ul…please protect them." Was that a sign of life? I don't know. Or were those her last words? "Ul!" I was back in a bathroom, breathing hard and hugging myself. It's so cold, freezing. My pounding heart filtered all pitter-patter that should have been there. "Ul?" My eyes pinpointed to the sound source. It was Meredy. I lashed out and hugged her—she's warm, so very warm. I was certain of its source. "It happened again didn't it?" Her voice, it was filled with life.

"Thanks goodness you're alive…"

"Why wouldn't I be?" She finally hugged back, ran her fingers down my hair. "Do you remember when I had a nightmare back when I was a child? You said to talk about it and the nightmare won't come true." I took a deep breath, swallowed a mouthful of ash and spoke.

"I found you…lying on the ground, I, I didn't know if you were dying or not."

"So we failed?" I clutched harder, I didn't want to say it, I wanted to just shut the dream out, bury it deeper than the other ones I had. "What kind of stupid dream is that? There's no way we can fail."

"How long have I been here?"

"Fifteen minutes has past since we've started," Meredy smiled, "even when you're having a nightmare, your body still knows when to break out of it."

"You did that, not me."

"Well, let's get out, you're going to break your impression of being punctual all the time."

"I can…afford to be late from time to time." I looped my arm from Meredy's shoulders, to her waist. "Have you gotten fatter?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Ayy, finally an update that is reasonable! I've been getting back into the groove of writing. Still trying to work out the problems I find with my own writing—haven't really found a breakthrough yet. I wonder if this story is starting to slow down, you can argue that this is proper build up, but, I don't know. I have the most experience in writing short stories. And it 100% shows. All my previous stories are like a bunch of one-shots that happen to exist in the same timeline. You know, cool scenes and ideas that I thought out and turned to reality. I have yet to write a story that only has one big problem that the characters work their way through.**

 **I mean, even in terms of a love story, I'm using these 'arcs' as an excuse for a love story to happen. The romance isn't the highlight. And I believe most of you are after the romance. Which may explain why this story(and my previous one) is in the dumps. All I can say is sorry for my ineptitude, I'm trying to improve—stress on trying.**

 **Oh right, are you guys fine with this pace? Yes, that was what I wanted to ask in those two paragraphs. Also, is the outline of Ultear and Meredy's characters finally starting to show? For example their way of speak, the way they act, or is everything still flat? I'm really trying to nail this, character's personalities are one on the most important part of stories after all, I _need_ to get this down.**

 **Why am I rambling so much this chapter? Well, I don't know, maybe the many chapters where I held back finally came back to bite me in the butt. Or that not much people reads these things, so I decided this a place for me to vent. I will say that one of the cooler things about these online stories is that you can easily see what the writer is feeling at the time since I'm sure most of us will just publish a chapter after writing it instead of re-writing it until perfect—which is what I should do. But hey, if that's the case, I might as well finish this story then publish it in drips. But I won't learn as much that way and won't give me the pressure to write more, you guys have no idea how much you help me with this.**

 **Anyway, its a bit late, but I hope you all have had great Easter holidays and, have a nice day!**


	7. Chapter 7: Preparation With Fun

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

It was about two in the morning, the talks with Jellal finally finished, it was decided that Meredy and I get the master bedroom—much to my disagreement. The reasoning behind it was is would make a good contingency plan in case I get nightmares again, essentially, they're treating me like a child, the humiliation I had earlier was still burning in my mind. While Meredy was happy that we get to sleep together again after a long time, I wasn't as keen on it. Don't get me wrong, I missed the days where I would run my hand across her hair as she cooed in her sleep, her sleeping face won't fail to calm me down. However, I couldn't sleep. I don't think you can blame me, considering what happened when I let my guard down, and that's the contradiction: I can't sleep unless I let my mind relax. A shame too, the ambient noise was made of nothing but wind passing by.

Beside me, Meredy was sleeping soundly. I reached out to brush her hair. Oddly enough, feeling her hair sink in between my fingers felt soothing—familiar but different all the same. As the warmth of her forehead spread to my indexes, an egregious thought sprung up: I want this peace to last…

Afraid to sleep, honestly, what has my life gone to?

* * *

Today was the first time—in my memory—that I was woken by somebody. My eyes opened to Meredy shaking my body frantically. What surprised me the most was that the sun failed at what Meredy succeed, I was showered in sunlight. If it wasn't for Meredy blocking of it from hitting my face, I'm sure waking up would involve a bright sting to the eyes.

"I'm awake, I'm awake…you can stop now."

"Couldn't sleep?"

"A lot was going on."

"You can take it easy if you want, Jellal and I would be enough. Why don't you go on that tour with Natsu?" While the thought of relaxing sounded great, the nightmare I had rushed back to me like opening a wound.

"Absolutely not."

"One of these days, I'll get through to you, or Jellal would." I giggled and slid off our bed.

"If you can't, there's no way he can. He can try to force me, we all know how that turned out."

"What if we combine our strengths?"

"Depends on if I get to see anything interesting." I popped open my bag and pulled out a pair of black trousers that were easy to move around in and a purple shirt that had those inspirational quotes on them, not that I like these kinds of things, but I think Skye should. Plus, they make for great casual wear.

"What might that be?"

"Jellal in an apron cooking food that is edible."

"You know that's impossible."

"Precisely." I opened the door to the bathroom and began my daily clean-up. While I hoped to have ended to conversation with that, Meredy followed me with a determination that I only see during missions. "Didn't you already finish?"

"I did but, I'm not falling for something this elementary." I sighed as I brought a wet towel to my face. "How about something more feasible?" The cool towel cleared my morning fog clogging up my brain, if only I have some mint to chew on.

"How feasible do you think do you think it is for me skip out on work?" Meredy paused for a moment. Using that to my advantage, I brushed my teeth in peace.

"Not very likely." She finally answered, just in time too.

"There you go, we have to trade something improbable with something else equally improbable." Finishing my rituals, I went back to our room, though I wished I could have taken a shower as well, time doesn't allow it. "You should get out of those clothes too, unless you want to go out in pyjamas."

"Fine." Meredy finally agreed to drop the topic and get on with our day. In about fifteen minutes, the three of us were disguised, more importantly, walking along the road to Fairy Tail.

We ended up arriving ten minutes earlier than our predesignated time, and it was around this time where I get to see Fairy Tail when it's starting to climb to the peak of activity. What a contrast it was! The number crammed in this hall easily surpassed seventy. To be honest, it was hard to make out anyone recognisable. Without anyone to guide us, we decided to head to the bar. Hopefully, the Guild Master is the type of person to drink during the day. Having need to weave through tables, navigate between groups of people, dodge flying furniture and tools, the only redeeming quality I could give this guild is the liveliness of the place, even that was built on top of tons of annoyance, after digging past piles of grief and overlooking mountains of chaos. I've just about had it.

"Hey, you look cute," a group of burly men surrounded us, targeting theirs eyes on Meredy—possibly because I was walking close to Jellal, "you joining the guild? We can give you the run-down of everything here." Considering the fact I endured endless noise, I'd say I'm fairly patient. However, seeing people hit on Meredy, was worse than all of those seconds of torture combined. I formed a cage of thorns around us and gave the men a smile dripping in venom.

"We're really busy right now so, can you move out of the way? I can't guarantee your safety if you don't back off. Perhaps a good scar would deter you from hitting on any other women again?" Like a cockroach, they all scurried away, as if they were caught in a bright light. We continued to walk to the bar without resistance, for good measure, I kept my smile. At last, we've reached our destination. This is what people must have felt like when they sailed the oceans for months, enduring gruelling challenge after challenge, finally to be rewarded with land. The land before us, Master Makarov. He noticed the three of us and hopped off his seat.

"Levy, Mira! Come to my office." Issuing a command without hesitation, we've caught another glance at why this man is the leader of this guild. He gestured for us to follow him. Mirajane said something to her sister and yanked a book away from Levy.

"Hello, the two of you were here yesterday weren't you?" Mirajane asked. "Lisanna told me that two of Natsu's acquaintance came by."

"Mira, you know these three too."

"That's strange, I don't have any memories of…" She then scanned us with a more discerning eye, her smile grew stiff. "Did something happen?"

"Not here." Makarov quickly ushered us inside his office and locked the doors shut—that was our signal. We were eager butterflies, shedding our disguises to reveal what's beneath the magic.

"You guys!" Levy exclaimed.

"Now I'm sure the two of you have a vague idea on what's happening."

"Something big is happening."

Nodding, Makarov pulled out the notes I gave him, "according to the information they gave us," he gave us a thankful eye, "some punks are planning to attack us."

"Which is why you called us here," Levy paused before continuing, "you want us to gather information."

"Exactly."

"When do we start?"

"This time, Crime Socrcière is helping us, or these three in the room."

"We would like to offer more help but," Jellal started, "other members are busy with their own things."

"No, you three are plenty, this is our problem to tackle, we wouldn't expect any help when it comes to these things."

"Then I'll briefly explain to situation. A dark guild is gathering Lacrima through any means, buying, stealing or trading. Most likely, they're using the Lacrimas to use them as explosives or to fuel a weapon. Which is why we need to investigate more to find out." Jellal dug out a map from his pockets. Is was the standard map of Fiore but with red, black and blue circles riddling the paper. "The red circles are Lacrima mines, the blue ones are where the highest concentration of Lacrimas exist in the land. Finally, the black circles are where we already have our members investigating." Though there were way more black circles than the other two combined, the ones where we haven't sent people is potentially the most dangerous. "Since we'll be staying here for a while, we can give you any information that we have as soon as we get them."

"That's quite a lot of places to check out," Levy commented, "should we get more help?"

"For now, we'll just see to the highest likely spots, Poppy Mines, Arbor Mountain, Garance Town, Edelweiss Mines and Manuka City. Even among the spots I circled, these five are the most prominent. If we don't have a single lead after these five, we'll have to cast a bigger net."

"Where should we go?" Mirajane asked.

"It doesn't matter as long as you're willing to go there. If you've been to any of these places, the better."

"Then me and Levy will go to Manuka City, I've done a photo shoot there once."

"I'll take Poppy Mines. Ultear, do you mind if you go to the mountain?" He really should know at this point that I don't really mind where I go. However, the mountains should have more options for me to use my magic.

"Not at all."

"Meredy, you'll go—"

"Garance Town." She's up to something again, I can tell with the strong look in her eyes.

"In that case, whoever finishes first will go to Edelweiss. Once you're done preparing, please set out at once, we don't know how much time we have left."

"Got it."

"It's a bit late for it now but, thank you for cooperating with us."

"Again with this?" Makarov groaned. "It seems your guild members tends to do everything by yourself. Look, the both of us are just doing our own work. We're protecting our family, you're eliminating threats to Fiore. I don't think fulfilling our respective goals deserves any thanks."

"We'll come again once with have something," Jellal puts back on his disguise and waited for us to do the same. He's getting really impatient, is he that worried? At this point, he's so easy to read. Rather than teasing him for it, I saw that it was best to do what he wanted. So I said goodbye to my natural hair colour and stepped out once more.

"Jellal," I called out, my eyes were fixed on a red-haired knight, sitting on a bench spooning a cake, "are you sure you don't want to tell her?"

"What will come of it?"

"She can help us, you know how capable she—."

"We can't." Jellal snapped.

"And why is that?" I knew it, he's letting personal feeling get in the way. "Wouldn't having more people help? We're missing one person anyway. We can attack sooner; the less people will be harmed."

"I know that, but we—I can't." His stubbornness reminded me of a rule we made when we first form this guild, I guess that's why this rule was made.

"These people are already disrupting society, hording this much Lacrima is dwindling the supply, people who want to use them for good can't, or at the very least, needs to pay more to get them. It's not just about Magnolia or Fairy Tail, this affects the entire kingdom. Some people's livelihood depends on Lacrimas, some are making their dreams come true with them. Are you compromising that? If you are, I'm taking control of this plan." Before he could respond, I pushed further, "Should the one leader of an operation be clouded by personal emotions, the other two has the right to seize control, or are you telling me you've forgotten that? Mark."

And I finally got him to talk, "why is it always them?"

"Huh?"

"It's always Fairy Tail. They're always getting caught up in these kinds of messes. They shouldn't be dealing with all this, they're just a normal guild. We're different, we formed this guild for the sole purpose of fighting crime. _We_ should be shouldering their troubles. Why can't they live a normal life? Free from all this."

"And so you want to let them live a 'normal' life." What an idiot. "Look around you."

"Does you see any normal people?" Meredy finished, pulling the words from my head. Light returned in Jellal's eyes. Positivity was bursting from each person in the room, the happiness was overwhelming. "When they're standing at the top of Fiore, normal doesn't apply to them anymore."

Without skipping a beat, I declared, "we're going ahead first, you brood on those words for a while." At my words, Meredy put back on the act, clinging to my left arm as we navigated the crowd again—somehow it became denser than when we first arrived.

"It might take a bit longer then I thought," Jellal said, "I'll catch-up soon." Giving a relieved smile, he walked towards Erza's direction, and vanished in the crowd. Even with this push, I doubt anything major will happen. However, we now have one extra ally. The ball is in your court Jellal, though you'll end up disappointing Meredy and I, try to come up with a better lie this time.

* * *

The instant we moved to the next step, a wall appeared—we have no idea where to buy supplies. Normally when we move, it's usually to a place where an incident is about to happen, therefore, we don't have a need to run around for supplies to go on a journey, giving us ample time to get acquainted with the new lifestyle. We have no such luxury now, time was ticking against us, the sooner we get going, the better. If, by some chance we were short on time in the new home, we would have one of our guild members positioned around our new home to guide us. Again, we never expected to move to Magnolia, Fairy Tail was there to guard from most—if not all threats. The only reason why we're here is to ease Jellal's worry, also the scale of this operation warrants additional security.

As the two of us went and burned all our options, it hit me, "Rachael, we're splitting up, since we're going to different places anyway, the things we're buying will be different anyway. Plus, if either of us finds anything we need, we can buy it and exchange it."

"Got it, I'll go to the market."

"Then I'll buy other supplies." In this moment, asking locals for direction is the most valuable asset.

"Huh? You two sure are early." Just in front of us, Natsu came strolling in the scene with his trusty cat—Happy—floating behind him.

"I think it's because Natsu is just late, it's ten you know?" Happy quipped. "You even slept through breakfast."

"Shut up, it's early for me. And I'll just eat breakfast with my lunch."

"Rachael," I looked to my sister, to find the same expression, "we're in luck."

"What do you mean?" Seeing Natsu's dubious face made feel slightly bad that we're about to throw a massive wrench into his schedule. But compared to the deeds I did to have things go my way, this amounts to nothing.

"So we have a really important trip to go to," I said, making my voice as sweet as possible; I tugged on his scarf till we were almost touching noses, "but the thing is, we don't know where to buy our supplies, do you think," I ran a finger across his cheek, "you can guide us?" For someone that is known to be pretty dense, it seems like he's still a man through and through. A low-level attack like that gave Natsu's cheeks a healthy pink paint-over; he wouldn't look at me straight in the eye, wandering randomly. I'll admit, his reactions were much more tame that most people I've done this trick with, what a shame…his overreactions were always a treat.

"I was planning to guide you guys anyway."

"Yes, but you said after lunch, we're in a hurry right now."

"I'm really hungry though, you heard Happy, I just woke up."

"You can't?" Meredy joined in, using her younger charms to effect, right now, it was like staring into the face of a starving puppy. Before she grew up, we could rope in any person we wanted. Thankfully that's out of the table, going after sickos who's interested in children always left a bad taste in my mouth, even if it got us closer to what we were doing.

"Fine, but you're treating me and Happy to lunch alright?"

"You got it!" The sadness in Meredy's face vanished and I pulled away from Natsu immediately.

"Now let's get going, we'll head to the market first." I ordered.

"Natsu," Happy sighed, regarding Natsu with drawn-out eyes, "you're a stupid idiot."

"S—shut up!"

The market was just as you would expect from a city like Magnolia, stores and stalls stretching far, each one of them raring to attract customers, from poster girls to live demonstrations, simple signs to town criers. The place was made of two types of customers, the ones who make a big fuss, specifically, hagglers, bribers, children; the other, were people who would simply hand over money in an equal transaction. And of course, we've brought the biggest noise makers in the city.

"Why am I carrying your stuff!" Natsu screamed. Like a butler—albeit a loud one—Natsu followed Meredy and I, acting as a haven where we could free our hands.

I was weighing two types of scarfs in my hands, one black, woolly one, versus one with black and purple stripes, "if you're a man, you wouldn't complain about it, we didn't buy that much stuff." The black one is more dull… "this is great, I never thought we would have someone accompany us when we're shopping again, Jellal makes some stupid excuse every time."

"You two bought two bags worth of crap each!"

I picked the black scarf, tossed in a wool hat, some gloves, paid money before handing Natsu another bag. "Make that three for me."

"Can't you put those with the other bags?"

"You must be joking, you want me to put clothing next to dried food when I don't know what conditions they were cured in?" Seeing how he still doesn't get it, I continued, "some of those foods are greasy right? I don't want that anywhere near my clothes. Come on," I pulled Natsu by the ear, "Rachael just bought something."

"I hate you two."

Meredy gave Natsu another paper bag, "I'm done here, the rest is back home."

"Me too."

"Then we're done?" Natsu asked hopefully. There is it, those helpless, cute, glassy eyes, his frowning lips. Unfortunately for him, Meredy prepared my defences against the cute tactic. Making crushing his dreams, much easier.

"What are you talking about?" I couldn't help but smile, "we still have to buy medical supplies." While Natsu's soul left him, I looked at Happy; I noticed his paws were plenty free, just a fish bone occupying the space.

"I—I'm too weak to carry stuff!" Happy pleaded.

"Easy, I wouldn't want my bandages to smell of fish." It's so fun with easy targets around. Seeing Meredy's playful smile she thought the same—and we haven't even used Meredy's magic yet!

We dragged the duo around for another hour or so. Apparently, Natsu had a traumatic incident involving shopping plus girls in the past, which would explain his exaggerations. Now we were in a restaurant, resting as well as fulfilling my end of the bargain. Though it would appear that Natsu and Happy were too tired to notice tables or smell the food passing by to most, they were stone statues leaning against the table. That is until a huge plate of food got delivered right in-front of their faces. I assumed Natsu can probably eat more than five people's worth of food, so to whet his appetite, I ordered a huge plate of noodles that was meant for three. For Happy, I got him a plate of raw fish. Natsu and Happy were like dehydrated people when they find water, ogling the food—drooling for it.

"Go ahead, we did promise to treat you two, we can get more if you want, just focus on resting, you two did a good job." I concluded, throwing in a cute beam. It's a simple trick really, once you wear down their minds to the point of breaking, you then offer them some sort of salvation, all the sudden, they think you're generous and they forget all abuse you made them go through. Of course, this is only effective against simpletons. Which is why the two were looking at me like someone to be revered.

""Thank you so much!""

Under the slurping, Natsu asked, "where are you guys going anyway?"

"Just some errands Jellal gave us."

"Do you want us to help?"

"We'll be fine, it's nothing that serious. Besides, don't you have a team? Why don't you go on a job with them?"

"Yeah well," Natsu swallowed a huge mouthful of food, chugged a glass of water, "for some reason, Happy told me that Erza suddenly had something to do." I turned to the cat for explanation.

"While Natsu was sleeping, I visited the guild. And the weird thing was, Erza suddenly said she was busy, even though she was totally free yesterday! Natsu, you didn't do anything to her right?"

"I didn't! Why do you always blame me for everything!?"

"Because Natsu is Natsu."

"What's that supposed to mean!?"

"Can you get to the point?" I drummed my fingers on the table.

"A—aye sir! When I asked Erza what she meant, she just said the Master called her for something." Then it's safe to say that she knows what's going on…well, that'll just make explaining smoother for Jellal.

"Excuse me," I called out to a waiter, "can you bring me two lunch set A's?"

"Two set A's is it? Please wait for a while, the food will arrive soon."

"If the whole afternoon was supposed to be reserved for us, what are you planning to do now?"

"I don't know really, I didn't really think of anything else."

"Natsu, I hope you're aware that we didn't move here to have fun, you shouldn't plan your days around three people that should be in low priority."

"Who cares about that kind of stuff? Speaking of which, when will you be free?"

"I don't know, I'm never certain about these things."

"Doesn't your guild have days off or anything?"

I smiled wryly, "technically, we do. It's mainly our fault that no one really takes a day off, at least long breaks."

"What do you mean?"

"We allow our members to take a break whenever they want, as long as they get the job done on time. However, when most people want to take long breaks, us three wouldn't stop."

"What's wrong with that?"

"If you see someone work harder than you, won't you want to work harder as well?"

"I don't get it." I sighed, this is going to be tough.

"Look at it this way," Meredy spoke up, "if you know Gray is training, you'll want to train as well right? So as to not fall behind."

"Ohhh! So it's like that, why you say that in the first place?" His innocent tone told me he wasn't messing with us, I glanced at Happy just to make sure.

"Natsu has fighting on his mind most of the time."

"Who cares about that? You said you didn't move in here for fun right? Then why did you come here?" His blatant attempt to change the subject aside, his question was tricky to answer.

"Jellal insisted that we come here, he still hasn't told us why though."

"That's it? Tell me when he tells you alright? I might be able to help." Natsu declared with a smile.

"I'll try." I smiled back. Natsu Dragneel, an absolute idiot compared to most people around him. Yet, he makes a great conversation partner, he always listens to what you're saying unless something important is on his mind. He's great fun to be around, the way he dances on my palm is cute as well. What I find the most interesting is, he never pushes to an answer, he doesn't pry. It creates a casual vibe around him. And it's this vibe that will get him the answers he wants. Whether he's aware of this or not, is a different matter entirely. He would definitely make a great friend.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed.**

 **It's another slow chapter, but I think it provides some nice information about these characters, it should speed up after maybe another chapter, I don't know, I'm trying to time these chapter releases with a date I consider important so it's kinda messing with things.**

 **Anyway, I finally decided to get me some covers on these stories! I won't put a cover for Hisui's story yet, I'm still wondering if I should put one. As embarrassing as it is to admit, the two covers(three if you count Hisui's one) took so long for me to make, it would take even longer if I were confident in my drawing skills to show to the world. It is one of my goals to someday fill my profile icon with something I draw myself. Until then, it's the default. Nevertheless, it's something I'm proud of given my limit skillset.**

 **A few things about the covers that I must 'cover'. The silhouette of Juvia was me using a fanart and just turning it all black. The person that rendered the image is Namyle. And He/She has done some fantastic work on Fairy Tail Characters which I highly recommend you check out. Just go to deviantart and add this to the URL, or search the artist.**

 **namyle/art/Juvia-Lockser-Render-5-614439725**

 **Add if it doesn't work.**

 **That is for image of Juvia I used, in case you guys like, you know, want to see the original. I feel slightly bad for not putting this plug-in in a story that's irrelevant to the art. My apologies!**

 **Aside from that, the other characters were pulled from the anime I think, not too sure on that one. Also the fonts I used were found online(1001 Fonts), aside from that, everything else, I made myself. The font from the cover in this story is called Lumos by Sarah McFalls. And Juvia's story was using Seaweed Script by Font Diner.**

 **So why am I being so strict when it comes to something as simple as a fic cover? Because I think it's important to give credit, putting a part of your work out on the internet—at least for me—takes quite a good deal of courage. Also, most likely these people put so much work into these, therefore, it's only right that I tell you guys who made these awesome stuff!**

 **Alright, I'll shut up now, have a nice day!**


	8. Chapter 8: A Deal is Struck

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail.**

* * *

Toying with Natsu really let off some stress I had about this whole plan, I should keep someone like that around me as a stress ball, only much livelier with _way_ better reactions. Sadly, those times are over, joy gone, only my ongoing trip remained in my head. My research on Arbor Mountain finished, I was back in my room, packing all supplies I will need, sleeping bag, food, medicine, changes of clothes…all that was stuffed into my backpack, now rounded-off and looking like it would burst. Meredy was also beside me. Since she was going to a town, her bag was empty compared to mine. At that time, we heard our front door open and close, a short moment later, Jellal walked in the room his bangs covered his eyes again, back slouched with his hands hanging limply, swinging with each step he took.

"Did you try to persuade Erza not to help us or something?" I asked. "You look terrible."

"No…we just had an argument." Jellal laid on the floor with his limbs spread out.

"What about?"

"She wanted to trade places with me."

"She wants to go to Poppy Mines?"

"That's it." Jellal groaned. "She wanted to go there because it might the most dangerous of the five. Even the surroundings are filled with natural hazards. The occasional monster attacks make the mines only operational during certain times of the year."

"And you took a place like that? What are you, crazy? That's too reckless."

"She said the same thing." He smiled wryly, "And then she suddenly told me she's going there in my place."

"Why not let her do then?" It's not like Erza can't defend herself, I can't really imagine many people being able to fight her if the situation arises.

"Because I spent a lot of time researching the mines, won't that just make my efforts meaningless?"

"You can just tell her what you've found. Why did you even argue in the first place? Does it really matter who is going where? We don't need to have someone go twice, meaning we don't have to wait as long."

"Why do you think I let her go?"

Meredy spoke up, "Jellal, you should just have said you were worried for her."

"How will that help? She's really stubborn, annoyingly stubborn, why can't she understand this?"

"If boys and girls could understand each other that easily, the world's problems will at least cut in half."

I got up and grabbed my bag, "Whatever the case, once you're done mulling over your spat, you better start leaving okay? I'm leaving ahead of you two, I'm the furthest of the three after all." Talking sense into that man won't help. If he couldn't understand Erza's actions, there's no point. I gave Meredy an eye to not help Jellal and left.

I managed to catch a train going to a town that's closest to the mountain. Since it was far away and not a very popular spot, there were only a few trains every day. It was roughly three in afternoon, by the time I'll arrive, it'll be night, which is perfect for sneaking around. That means, it's no time to admire the scenery or the ever-shrinking Magnolia, I need to sleep.

* * *

"Come on!" I shouted at a beaten Meredy, scratches were all over her body, a blood trail was tracing her jawline as she laid limply on the ground. It was three months after I took her in, being too harsh to her as always. Dipping up and down above my palm, was my orb, partly spattered with her blood. "If you can't dodge something like that, what will you do if something is actually trying to kill you? You'll have your first test soon you know!?"

"I'm sorry…" Meredy tried to pick herself back, first with her tiny arms that were shaking. Strength left her and she hit the dirt again.

"If you don't get up, I'm leaving you." Those words would make her squeeze, and force, and milk every last bit of power she had left. It was those words that I used like a tool to drive her further, making her surpass all my previous expectations.

"Please don't!" The child shrieked, that most likely used up all her remaining energy, her eyes says otherwise. "Ur is all I have left," tears mixed in with her blood, and snot stuck to rotting leaves, "don't leave me alone."

"Don't call me by that name!" I send my orb forward, even going as far to accelerate it—which I haven't done once during the entire training session. Just as the orb was about to smash against Meredy's head, her tiny hands caught it. A horrible scream masked cracking bone that I barely picked up; a cry I didn't want to hear again. It felt like a bird crying out to their parents as they leave the nest, she didn't mind the physical pain at all, she just wants someone to be by her side. And it was that sound that snapped me out of my rage. "Meredy!" I rushed to the fallen child.

"If I…" she was unconscious, her eyes were open but, nothing that those green eyes scanned was being processed, just a dull emerald, "can't dodge it…I'll block it. Sorry I couldn't…do as told. Don't…abandon me."

"I'm sorry!" I picked up her broken frame, holding her close, but gentle enough to not harm her any further. Though she couldn't listen, guilt drove me to explain, "if you don't pass the test, I'll have no choice but to throw you away. You've done well you know? Your resolve is more than enough." That was the day I vowed to never push her that hard again, her need for company was abused by me. Yet, it was that same thing that kept her alive that day. My prayers were answered; before I have to see those wounds again, I was woken by a train shaking as it ran across uneven tracks. "That was worse than any nightmare," with the help of a dying sun, I saw my shaking fingers, "they're fiction," a chill ran down my spine, "that wasn't." I want Meredy to be with me; brushing her healthy fingers; washing her scar-less body in the bath; get lost in her vibrant emeralds brimming with life.

* * *

My predictions were correct, when I disembarked my train, it was the perfect time to go investigating. Arbor Mountains is an interesting place, if it wasn't for the magic-wielding monsters, tourist will come flocking in. Even from a distance, I could see the mountain, a singular massive piece of terrain green from the tree growing with its signature sky-blue hat. The peak may seem like snow, however, that culmination of light blue wasn't snow and ice, but Lacrima, though I have heard it gets cold enough for that. A place that is deemed a natural wonder by the kingdom, also called Lighthouse by locals, the only Lacrima sourced around here is the crystals sprouting from the ground, even those are strictly monitored, for they are crucial to the ecosystem here. Seeing that the people I'm dealing with isn't exactly the most law-abiding people, I'm heading straight to the peak.

I quickly left the station, fully prepared to use a good deal of the night walking there, I found magical vehicles for rental set up next to a ticket machine that records which ones were being rented, I believe I have the Princess to thank for these additions to the kingdom. Though the King—or rather the Treasurer—must have fought a good deal before committing this much resources to mages that aren't the major populace. Regardless, I picked a vehicle modelled after a bike and drove in the mountain's direction.

Driving in the night was soothing somehow. Danger was ahead of me, closing in the further I head towards it. Yet, there was something about the smooth winds and the temperature of a rural area like this that seems to make me feel more at ease. The air was clean, and the only sounds were from bugs and birds. Of course, I had to keep my guard up in-case anything jumps at me be it animals or people.

Soon, I came across a rental station. It was just a small garage enough to fit four larger vehicles and three spots for bikes like mine. The station was completely empty, no one in their right mind would come here for no reason after all. From what I've read before, it should be mating season for some animals here, therefore, even employees supposed to work here are taking a break until things get a lot less territorial.

After parking the bike, I paid the amount according to the time I was using the bike, which was around half an hour. Though I was at the foot of the mountain, it's influences already started. All around me, large Lacrima crystals grew out the ground, glowing a mysterious soft blue. They varied a lot in size, from small saplings to ones the size of a house. What's insane is the amount of magic flowing through here. It was heavy, but not in the unpleasant way, it had the comfort of a weighted blanket.

Walking around for a bit, I found a path that presumably the workers used to climb the mountain. It was a narrow path, only fitting two, maybe three people at once. Tree flanked every side, blocking off most of the light the Lacrimas would give off, casting long shadows that made it hard to discern projections from real objects. A few more minutes later, I found a sign pinned to a tree. 'Beware of Hornet Nest. Do Not Disturb.'. A bad feeling surfaced as I looked up. The nest was huge, about twice the size of my head. While I'm not an expert on bugs, to live in these mountains, must require a certain amount of strength. I quietly—even avoiding fallen leaves—walked past the mine above me.

Ever since I started my adventure in this mountain, the ambient sounds had such a huge contrast to when I was just started, I entered a dog-eat-dog world. In one second, I would hear a sharp battle cry followed by a flash of magic, the other second, screams reverberated the mountains, the kind you would only hear from taking lives. That was just the beginning, small footsteps were running towards me. I prepared my orb. Jumping from the dark, was a hunter with sharp claws, glinting with a layer of magic, it's yellow, feline eyes regarded me curiously. A sleek body honed from the hours of chasing and slaughter. It bared its fangs at me.

One thing told me it most likely wouldn't be a threat, "a cat?" It was simply too small. And that's not me letting my guard down, knowing it can channel magic to its claws shows it can kill me if I do. However, in the natural world, animals tend to hunt things that they deem as easy prey. Taking down something large is not only risky, but can be less energy efficient compared to going for small game, this is only amplified if they are hunting solo. If the cat was planning to eat me, it wouldn't show off those flashy claws until the last moment anyway.

We stared at each other for a good minute, I was watching for the slightest movement in muscle, the cat, seemed to be focused on my backpack.

"Are you…hungry?" I took a step forward; it jumped back. Seeing that I wasn't doing anything, it walked back to its original spot. "You're starving," I muttered, perhaps the sleekness came from the lack of food, not copious amounts of pursuing, however, the darkness didn't let me confirm my hunch.

Without taking my eyes off the cat, I reached into my bag, and pulled out some dried meat. "You want this?" I tossed them to the cat. Before they touched ground, a grey blur snatched it. "Aren't you the quick one?" It ate desperately, I was honestly worried it would choke on the food. "You really shouldn't be walking around with those claws like that, they're a big giveaway. No wonder you can't catch any—" what if it was forced away from its home?

I wasn't familiar with this species so I couldn't tell if it was young or not, but assuming it is, its still being taught how to hunt, but something forced them be separated. This trip might bring me more information that I originally hoped.

"If you don't get a hang of hunting soon, you'll die here," I started to walk away, "that's all the help you're getting from me." I was distracted by a cat, how much time did I lose? I really have grown soft…in the past, I would have killed it and moved on. But…this isn't so bad.

* * *

I might have been half way up the mountain before the landscape had noteworthy changes. Trees lost dominance and gave ground to Lacrimas, the trees that did remain were adapted to cooler climates. Strangely enough, I felt at ease in the stronger winds and chilly climate. I personally can't wait until snow adds to this beautiful place. The Lacrimas shooting out were much bigger than before, now all of them were taller than I am. Here, is where most of the mining is taking place. Scaffolding could be found on the bigger Lacrimas. The smaller ones, had chunks taken out of them. If you were lucky, you can grab yourself a pickaxe lying next to Lacrimas left behind by lazy miners. In the hints of civilization, I finally saw shadows of a human, two of them in fact, walking side-by-side up the mountain.

Being extra careful, I used the crystals for cover, following the two people up. They were wearing winter coats, a pickaxe in hand. And from their stature—tall, muscular—they were men. I dipped closer to them between more crystals.

"Damn it's cold here." One complained.

"Strap yourself in, it's going to get worse." The other replied.

"Did we really have to harvest all this shit?"

"Quit complaining, the pay is good." that was troubling, they were only hired, meaning they don't have much information on them.

"Who need this much Lacrima anyway? How long will it get to charge all this?"

"I can't believe we were sitting on this gold mine, what is the kingdom doing?"

"Pussy-footing around as usual, what else? If I was king, the people would sing of the shit I'll do." I listened to their useless banter hoping for everything interesting; keeping my expectations low since they are just hired helpers.

I learned nothing but their fetishes, sexual history—or conquests as they referred it to—and gripes about modern society. Though I expected as much, I couldn't help but have an urge to knock them unconscious, saves me a lot of time, I don't have to slug behind them. However, doing so might kill them from the cold, the last thing I want is have the dark guild be on guard. Not even their preferences proved to be useful as I can't take advantage of them—I'm neither wearing tights or have glasses on me. Therefore, I endured.

From the alpines, to snow, I felt slightly at home. Rocks have almost completing disappeared while trees lost completely. Lacrimas now reign supreme. Their glow turned subtle from the layer of snow built over them. I climbed over a small lip blocking the bases of the crystals. I've been impressed by this place so far, but nothing struck me as wonder worthy. This however, at the peak, absolutely was. Imagine countless crystals—each one as tall as a building—pointing to the sky in unison at different angles, now add a soft, gentle blue light coming off from them. The light would bounce off snow, giving them a blue pigment. If moonlight hits the crystals at the perfect angle, rainbows would shoot out like a mirrored ball under lights. As snow danced, the lights would as well.

What destroyed this image was, scaffolding. Steel beams used as support polluted this wonderful view. Using them, were workers, chipping at the Lacrimas and dumping them in buckets. I wanted to make the beams to dust to nothing, render the picks unholdable and drag every person here behind bars. But I held it in. The patient will be rewarded. That being said, the amount of people here made hiding much harder. Just then, I felt something brush my leg. I turned and made a blade of ice, prepared to end whatever discovered me. To my surprise, it was the cat from earlier. I took it and hopped back over the lip I made over.

"What are you doing here?" I whispered. "I'm not giving you anymore food." It simply looked at me with hope, it pointed to the right and walked in that direction. To my foolishness, I decided to follow it. If I ever end up dying, I only have myself to blame. The cat led me through a maze of crystals, to the point where I was certain it was messing with me. At the end of our journey, was a cave entrance.

It wasn't a normal cave, from what I could tell, the cave was simply just Lacrimas growing against each other, forming a tent shape.

"Is this your home?" The only response was an impatient mew. Why am I following a cat anyway? This might be a trap. Again, I ignored the warnings and forged on.

Thankfully, the cave wasn't very deep. What I can't thank, is that the cat led me to what I presume to be the mother. From the moment I saw it, I knew this thing stood at the top of the food chain here. The throne it was sitting on were Lacrimas levelled perfectly with one clean swipe, it was massive, just from the size of the mouth alone, it could swallow me whole. Paired with the size of a ruler, it possessed the nobility and grace of a Queen. A pure white coat of fur with a mane that acted like a high-quality scarf; dazzling blue eyes pinned me down. The light Lacrimas gave off further added to the presence. Unlike her child, her claws were retracted. Somehow, that was scarier.

For now, she was just observing me, lying down using her paws as cushions, I was doing no such thing, I was just standing there. My brain wasn't working on anything intelligent, it was working on preserving my life. And I managed to grab on to something. I felt no hostility at all, meaning I should leave before I offend it. Just as I was about to run, the kitten pulled me closer, where did you get this sudden burst of strength!? Everything clicked into place upon calming down and taking the first step. Like the Lacrimas, the Queen's beauty was tainted. A huge red gash ran along from her belly, to her hindleg. Now I know why the kitten brought me here, and why I found it.

"How strange," a voice resonated in my head, one that commanded respect, yet, I felt it was forced, laboured from enduring pain, "you hold little fear compared to the ones that came here before." I stood there frozen, I wasn't anticipating that it could speak.

I faced the beast, don't show weakness, "well I've seen dragons before, if I didn't faint then, I certainly won't now."

"Dragons? Now that's something I haven't seen in a long time."

"Let's not drag this any longer, you have no plans to kill me do you?"

"Impatient and bold," she commented, "but you're correct, I'm sure you know why my child brought you here."

"If you wanted someone to heal you, try sending one that's more competent, it was starving." I shouldn't mock her child like that, but I know a thing or two in raising children.

It simply giggled, "true, Lily just started to learn not too long ago, I couldn't even show her how to." I assumed the wound prevented her from teaching the kitten properly.

Feeling a bit more comfortable, I asked the one thing burning in my head, "how did you even get this injured?"

"Your kind has been tampering with the magic here," I don't think she was blaming me, just stating the facts, "Lacrimas I believe you call them. It was a week ago when I was teaching Lily how to hunt, I decided the lower levels would be more suitable for her. However, the ground started to shake and before I knew it, a Lacrima was tumbling straight towards Lily."

"You took the blow for her." If they are one of the victims of these mining, perhaps I can get some information out of them.

"Yes, ever since then, Lily has been running around the mountain, though I tried to stop her," she gave her daughter a glare, "every time she returned, only feathers or fur accompanied her," the Queen looked at a pile of the stuff she was referring to, it was hard to tell, however, I think she was smiling. If so, it stemmed from gratitude.

"You seem pretty happy that she couldn't bring back any food for you."

"You noticed?"

"I've raised a child before, of course I know what it feels like when your child does her best to help you, even if the end result doesn't help."

She licked Lily happily. "It's as you say, I'm thankful that she's doing her best, but at this rate, I won't heal in time and she'll starve. I believe your kind has developed some sort of healing magic? With that, I want you to bring someone to heal me." Wendy came to my mind. I don't know where she is…

"That magic is considered lost, I only know two people that can use it. Both of them, I don't know where they are. Without them, I can still help you. However," I'm confident in finding plants that aid with recovery, feeding her would be a pain but, not impossible, "you know this, seeing how we're gathering Lacrima here, you know our kind is greedy. I'm no exception, I can't do charity." I pressed for my main goal in coming here.

"That surprises me, didn't you do some for my daughter?"

"I did it on a whim." A more defined smile was on her lips.

"Then what do you wish for?"

"Information." That took her off-guard and her calculating eyes shifted around the cave ever so slightly. "A mother wouldn't let strangers wander around her territory, that means you've done some investigation around them. I'm after these people. They're planning something I don't want to happen."

"We're after the same thing then," she sighed, "I'll tell you everything I know if you're willing to fulfil your end of the deal."

"For now," I took off my bag and laid all the food I have on the ground, "you'll need energy." This is the most inefficient way to gather information, I could easily follow the two goons until I find the one overlooking the operation. However, I know how important a child is to a mother, having the child starve to death when it hasn't had to joys of life yet, will haunt me. "I'm Ultear."

"Diana."

"I want to add one more condition. Once you're recovered, can you stop those idiots from mining more Lacrima?"

"I was planning to do so. Despite my appearance, my methods aren't elegant at all. Wouldn't it be better for you to stop them?"

"That would attract more unnecessary than I would like. Having a disaster such as you would alienate the chances of people suspecting another human tampering. Though I would be thankful if you keep them alive, most of them are just working for quick money."

"Only if they run when they see me."

"That wouldn't be a problem."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I felt like this chapter didn't put too much emphasis on each part of the mountain, I don't believe I highlighted each part correctly. But I don't really know how to write more about it without it seeming like padding, I guess that's just more to learn on my part.**

 **Another I thing I would like to point out is if Ultear seems unfazed after walking into a den that can kill her in and instant, that's because I don't have a good grasp on how to write fear without using the old tropes, you know, knees shaking, all that stuff. I don't want to fill it with stuff like that. And I have been trying to avoid using easy lines like those. Its pretty darn hard, I guess that's why they became common in the first place, because they're good. I'll try better next time, until then, forgive me for the shoddy writing.**

 **On the side note, I still hope the pacing isn't too fast on this chapter. On the story as a whole I do think its a bit on the slow side, a huge contradiction, I know. I realized a long time ago, most of the stuff I put on here, I'm never full satisfied. And now that I think about it, I can hardly find anything to praise from my stories. Am I begging for praise? God no, I'm stating facts while I'm on the topic and praying that I don't sound like I'm asking for praise. That being said, Ultear's character is starting to get a bit more defined. Fingers-crossed on more of this.**

 **Rambling aside, I can see this arc ending in the next chapter, I do find it pretty hard to think of a good ending on it though. That's like another day or two mulling in front of a blank page.**

 **For now, I hope you enjoyed, and have a good day!**


	9. Chapter 9: A Repair and a Half

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"Well, lead the way." I was back where green still exists. However, I had a kitten accompanying me. I only agreed to take Lily with me because Diana asked me to. A great chance to get some experience she claimed. It's not like I don't get anything out of this. Lily knows these mountains far better than I do. The way she leaps from branch to branch without looking ahead needs no further proof. "It would be more convenient if you know how to speak like your mother." Instead, I have to guess what it means every time the kitten paws the ground, or flicks her tail in a meaningful manner.

Lily took me to a cave entrance and taps the ground lightly, which hopefully means be quiet. So I did, I make sure each step was carefully planned, avoiding as much noise as possible. The lack of light wasn't that much of a problem, Lily's paws provided enough light for me to not trip myself. I can't help but think that the blue glow would be a dead giveaway to any prey living in these caves. A low groan projected from within at set intervals, echoing slightly in the cave. That sound got louder as we advanced, sending small shock waves that drummed against my chest. Even though Lily is small, her instincts to attack venerable animals was still there. Sleeping is just as venerable as it gets.

We found a large furry creature that took after a bear lying on its belly, only that this was twice it's size. How am I going to take this thing back up a mountain? I haven't even factored the jagged and narrow terrain, yet I'm already stuck. Lily patted my leg and drew her claws across her throat. This thing…might be smarter than I originally gave it credit for. Focusing my magic above me, I slowly formed a massive blade right above the neck, growing in height and therefore weight. To make a clean cut on something this huge, I need a heavy blade for force, sharp to cleave cleanly.

As the guillotine hovered above the bear, I felt Lily cower behind me. I let the blade drop, at the same time, I accelerated it to a blue flash. It was a clean cut, the blade shattered against the rock; water mixed with blood. Without missing a beat, I encased the body in a thick layer box of ice, drawing constant mewing from Lily; she scratched me lightly, bit my leg in frustration.

"Calm down," I raised my voice, "if I didn't freeze it, the smell of blood would spread everywhere. And the last thing I want is to have things attack me while we're carry this thing back up the mountains." Lily calmed down after hearing my reasons, licking the part she scratched softly. "It's fine, you're still young, I won't expect you to know these things. In your case however, Diana wards away any idiot trying to take her kill. The question still remains, how are we going to carry this thing?"

Though I didn't neglect my physical training, putting a normal bear on my back was stressful enough, this is impossible. And then it hit me. "Lily, stand back for me." She mewed in question but did as was told. She then jumped back in surprise as a cart formed in front of her eyes. I made the cart underneath the box since there's no chance of me picking it up. Once the tool was complete, I closed my eyes.

I was looking for something strong, not only to push the cart, but strong-looking to ward off any weaklings, moving creations still take too much out of me. I have no idea how Lyon make so many of them without breaking a sweat, maybe mother taught him some trick to it? Anyway, I imagined tree trunks for arms, a large upper body with smaller legs in comparison. Once I opened my eyes, a gorilla stood waiting for my orders. His blocky limbs spoke of my skill level, trying for a smoother look would take more time, something I don't really have.

"Lily," speaking was tough, I took in a deep breath, "I need you to be," another breath, "on the lookout," and another, "for threats. We can't, fight them," I leaned against the box, "not while I'm like this." Lily leaped on my head—claws retracted—and swung its tail slowly across my back like a pendulum. "Are you ready?" Lilly pointed out the cave. I made the gorilla pushed my cart, the ice squeaked at the weight it was being put under. Not only was this idea taxing at the start, I need to keep pouring magic into the cart and my gorilla, the box would melt, but that just makes my job easier.

We were about half-way back the mountain when trouble struck us. We lost the cover of heavy tree branches now that trees are becoming sparse. That wasn't the biggest problem. Blocking our path, was a pack of wolves, seven in total. They looked at us cautiously, waiting for the time to strike. My gorilla jumped to the front, pounding his chest in challenge. As they were having second thoughts, I shot out a wave of thorns at them. A slow wolf was killed instantly. The others jumped away easily. Now I know six of these things are experienced.

The wolf in the middle growled, setting off the others. They snarled and prepared to attack. The one in the middle charged first—I assume he's the leader. Their speed was unnatural for wolves, closing in the gap within just a second. Once I summoned a wall of thorns, they backed off. And I gained a substantial advantage: I caught their secret to speed when they jumped. A grey magic circle forming at their feet.

As if I turned on a switch, the wolves' patterns changed, they ran at speeds that I could barely keep up with. Before I knew it, I was surrounded with fangs and claws. One by one, they jumped. They avoided fatal injury from my thorns and toyed with the gorilla's slow pounds. At our third bout, it was clear to me that this is getting nowhere. Each attack of mine was getting predicted and dodged in such a way that nothing major came of it. Yet, they didn't plan for anything either. While it was a simple tactic against someone stronger than you, if your opponent knows how to counter it, this fight is over. The easiest way to disrupt wars of attrition is to throw in chaos. Lucky for me, these mutts don't know who they're messing with.

Another magic circle appeared at the pack's feet. In that moment, I reduced the ground they were standing on to dust. Thorns snaked out the ground and constricted them. Somehow, the leader and two other jumped high in the air. It didn't matter though, I launched thorns after them. They never made it.

A shower of blood rained down where the wolves were supposed to be—only a paw landed safely. A large shadow was cast above us. Before I could get a good look at what made it, it was gone.

"Lily." I looked at the kitten above me. She was shaking, she wanted nothing more than to hide in my clothes. The wolves had the same reaction, trembling at whatever helped us. "You need to grow up soon, your mother won't be there for you forever." Having said that, seeing that Diana lived long enough to have seen dragons, I'm certain she'll outlive me by a few generations. "This will happen to you. At times, you won't have anyone to protect you. When that happens," I sent three spikes the size of my arm to the wolves, spearing three heads, "you either fight back, or run." I froze one wolf and dragged it with me. "We're leaving." The gorilla started pushing the cart again. One wolf was all I could manage, besides, letting their blood spread means less predators for me to face.

* * *

Diana was in the same laid-back pose as when we left, "I'm impressed at how much you managed to hunt." She said. I got rid of my ice.

"If it wasn't for Lily, I wouldn't know where to start."

"She's been playing on these mountains for years after all."

"And she hasn't matured yet?"

"No," Diana spoke grimly, "our kind is slowest to grow of all cats, I'd say another five years before she even reaches childhood. In exchange, we're the strongest of our kind. Now it's my time to fulfil my end of the deal."

"But you haven't healed yet."

"After this meal and another week of rest, I can start hunting again, I won't be at full strength but, I don't need it." I nodded and sat on the ground. "Those men, Rectifiers, I believe they call themselves, are transporting the Lacrimas to a place called Westpine. In two more weeks, they're starting their next step, though I haven't managed to find what that is."

"That's plenty to work with." Diana starting tearing into the arm of the bear I killed. With my job done, all I had to do was head back and tell Jellal what I've found. So until the trains resumes their service, I finally have time to relax. "I've been wondering for a while, where's the rest of your litter?"

"About that," Diana shuffled uncomfortably, "I'm still not sure why, I only gave birth to Lily. I myself have six siblings, though two of them have already departed and the remaining I lost track of."

"Since Lily _is_ your child, where is her father?" I asked another question that was burning in my mind. "Shouldn't he be the one to be taking care of you? Or is your species the kind where only the mother raises the child and the males lives freely?"

"That bastard?" Diana tore a huge chunk of meat. "Forget about it. He must be mating with some other cat. I haven't seen him in three years, Lily herself is only five." Something stirred in me. It was the spirit of a mother.

"Irresponsible!" I let my words out without thinking. "The father has been absent from more than half of Lily's life!" Diana took another giant bite, snapping bone and ripping fur.

"That's what I told him as well! She can barely remember what he looks like, assuming he doesn't smell too much like some other woman, she should recognise him without a problem."

"You should punish him when he gets back."

"He never will…" Diana looked down and let out a quiet whine, "I can't believe I trusted him. It was like a never-ending adventure at the start, he added so much colour into my life. He taught me that fighting wasn't all there was to life." She licked Lily softly. "But I was the fool. I was nothing more than a toy to him. After pushing Lily to me, he left. He would visit often at first, now, I won't catch a spec of his fur oven once I'm on my deathbed." I don't know if Diana realises it or not, without Lily, I'm sure Diana would have gone mad from the loneliness of losing her partner. This mountain would have a much different landscape, miners can't even hope to reach the peak.

"That's all the more reason to raise Lily into a fine lady right? To teach her to be picky with her mates, don't let her suffer like you did."

"She'll blossom finely into the perfect flower," Diana eye's shone with pride for a split second, only to be robbed by loneliness, "one that everyone yearns for…" And then she'll leave you. Diana will be left with nothing. While I want to point out Meredy will one day leave me as well, we're in two different positions. At least for me, once Meredy leaves, I'll still have my guild and the bonds I've gained throughout the years. Diana doesn't know where her family is and her partner left. A part of me wants to keep Meredy with me. But that'll just make me a worse mother than I already am...

Diana's nose twitched; she snarled and dashed out the cave. I was reminded once most to not to mess with Diana. From running alone, it felt like a tornado blew by. An earthquake shook the caverns—more like a giant footstep. I felt something push me.

"I guess I'll see this through." I scooped Lily up and placed her on my head before following Diana.

My expectations of running halfway across the mountains chasing after a giant huntress was fortunately destroyed just as I got out the cave. Diana was pinning down another one of her kind, it was the same size as her and just as majestic, had it not been soiling its coat on the ground. Her eyes burned their target while her claws dug deep into white fur.

"You finally have the nerves to show up," Diana seethed, "where were you!"

The one Diana choked down chuckled and responded, "still as merciless." Licking her on the cheek.

"I don't need your flattery! Where!" A heavy amount of magic exploded from Diana, it was robbing me of my strength, I held Lily close to my chest as I dropped to my knees. "Were!" Her teeth took on a blue light, outperforming the rising sun. "You!" Lily squirmed into my hands, trying to break free.

"You can't go to her now!" I hissed. "It's too dangerous." A rampage powered by love, as an outsider, I could only watch and keep their child out of this.

"Exploring." The male simply stated. The magic output doubled, I was close to choking, my organs pushed themselves to their limit, how did she get this much strength from the provisions I gave her!? I tried putting out my own magic as a barrier, only then everything returned to normal.

"I can't believe you!" Diana's teeth were close to the throat. "Three years…three years, and you were playing around? You're lucky I don't smell another woman on you, or you would have been dead!"

"I was doing it for you!"

"What!?" The pressure weakened.

"You said you wanted a new home right?" So you're telling me, that this guy abandoned his partner for years, just for a silly surprise!?

"You…you…utter and absolute—"

"Moron!" I finished. I ran over and added another pair of spikes to stare the failure down. "Who in their right mind would leave their lover alone for years? Voluntarily at that! She was worried for you! She was scared that you would never come back! She was going crazy that her daughter will grow up without a father! For what!? A split moment of happiness?" I was heaving at the end of my speech.

"Then why did she tell me she wanted to move?" Diana looked at the male with scorn. She stared at him for few seconds and sighed.

"I wanted to run around the lands with you." Diana admitted. "I said before we'll do things together. It was just an excuse to explore and have fun, to let Lily see things that she's never seen before, let alone even dreamt of. Take a look around you. Why would I want to leave this behind?"

In contrast to the mysterious vibe I got at night, at dawn bore the joy of spring. Crystals shone brilliantly mixing in sunlight to create a gorgeous field of rainbows.

"I met you here," Diana continued, "it was the start of my happiness, I'm not going to abandon it easily. These five years were one of the hardest of my life despite the centuries. Don't you dare leave me again." Diana got off her partner and motioned me to stop.

"I won't." Hearing those words, I got rid of the spikes. Lily used this chance to climb up her father. She was on the nose, peering curiously at her father's green eyes. "Hey Lily, sorry for been a bad dad, I'll make it up to from now on."

"Daddy?" A childish voice rang in my head. I suddenly fell to my knees again—Diana's magic spike again, not as dangerous as before but, still plenty scary. And the male got the message, he was babbling attempts at forgiveness.

"I've been…trying so hard to teach Lily how to speak…and her first word…is for this bastard?" Diana managed. "Maybe I should kill you after all." What came next most likely stopped the bloodbath. The male's coat of fur was dyed yellow starting from his nose.

"Lily, you're pissing on me."

Lily didn't seem to care and kept going until finally, "bas…tard." She remarked.

"Diana! Look at what you're teaching her!"

"As if you have any right to lecture me about raising a child!" Lily hopped off her father and snuggled against her mother. "That's right Lily, until he fixes everything, call him a bastard, not father, not papa, not dad, or daddy. Don't even call him Soar. And you," Diana shot a paralyzing glare, "after you comfort me, you're not sleeping in the cave for a week."

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 **Thanks for reading!**

 **This chapter just makes me want to avoid fight scenes for the rest of my life. In my eyes, this chapter is like a passing grade on school work, and only because I salvaged it at the latter half.**

 **Was Diana's problems solved too fast? Yup! When I was writing this, I thought it would be pretty cool to have someone like in Ultear's position. Then I equated Diana to people who suffer from the same or similar problems in real life. I got pretty down after that, so I gave her a happier ending, if only to make myself feel better—which does nothing for the actual people affected—Pretty sure that means I lack the conviction needed to write a good story where something really bad happens to characters, let alone kill characters off outright. Something else to work on I guess.**

 **So, I expect things to slow down a bit in the next two, maybe three chapters. Not just in terms of story flow, but my uploading speed, it was sweet while it lasted. School can be a pain in the butt at times.**

 **Anyway, I hope you enjoyed, have a great day!**


	10. Chapter 10: A Celebration

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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Though it wasn't the first time I had to adjust my sleeping on the fly, it still was a pain to revert things back to where they used to be. Fortunately for me, my mission was completed in a day, which was quicker than I expected it to be. I freed up three days of my time just for the sake of this trip. And now that I've so much time to spare, I was at a loss at what to do. While that may be an excuse to get hooked in my workaholism again, Meredy's worrying face would spare me from actually committing, there is nothing better at getting me to stop than her and her moist eyes paired with sadness that could bring any party down.

The rumbling of a train in the early mornings painted a noisy ambient, kids were absent, most likely due to how early I am, which saves me a headache. Perhaps I should have stayed for another day like Diana suggested. However, I didn't want to get her way of reconnecting with her 'husband'. The girl waited three years, the least I could do is shorten the waiting by a day. All there for me to do recline on a train seat and wait for sleep to claim me, pushing the thought of pulling an all-nighter to a later date.

Much like the dreams I had before, this one hit me without warning.

* * *

"Camping with Ur! Camping with Ur!" Young Meredy sang as she skipped along a dirt road. This was a whole year after I took her in. She was looking much healthier. Though at the cost of the same quick development I used to have. But even back then, I think I wouldn't have it any other way. Her smile tugged at the last bit of humanity I still had.

"I told you not to called me by that name, didn't I?" At the time, I was also in a good mood, so I didn't lash out at Meredy like I normally would. I finally get a break from all the espionage and I wasn't about to ruin it because of some kid throwing an insult. "Don't forget we're here to train, I want some progress, or Master Hades will suspect me." I was carrying a backpack that had everything we needed while Meredy was holding onto the things I couldn't stuff in the pack. We were wearing boots used for hiking and clothes that were easy to move around in.

"But it's been so long since we've had a break!"

"Hurry up and get to work." I swiped a low branch out of the way. "Let's see if you've been paying attention, go find us a good camping spot, if you pick a bad one, I'm doubling your training efforts." While I swore not to push Meredy too far, that didn't mean I still wasn't unreasonable. If anything, spending a year with her made it clear to me where her limits lie, making it easier to stop right before anything got dangerous. I was balancing between her health and her progress meticulously, walking across a tightrope, albeit a thin one.

Meredy frowned at first. "I got it." She answered. As we walked around, I noted a few spots that were viable just in case Meredy failed while thinking of a proper penalty. The issues lie not in doubling Meredy's training, but that she didn't learn everything I taught her, at which point, re-education is an order. "How about here?" Meredy suggested a nice flat area, close to a water source and had plenty of shade from canopies. We were camping at an outrageous time of the year, a time when animals get more territorial than usual.

"Good to know I haven't been wasting my time." I dumped my pack on the ground. "I'll set things up, you'll first scout the area, then fetch us some water."

"Leave it to me!" Meredy threw down her things save a bucket and ran off in a random direction. I was confident at the time that Meredy was strong enough to not get killed the moment danger arises, a year into training and she's already turned from a normal girl I picked up to someone that wouldn't die from an animal attack. Turning into a fine Wizard is a different story, she's still learning the basics of magic. It's most certainly possible to have her to be using magic by this time, however, I didn't want to leave her other life skills to be half-baked. Which is why I've taken the time-consuming, well-rounded approach.

When everything was set up, Meredy returned with a bucket filled with water along with a big smile on her face. "All clear!"

"Then it's time to start training." I announced.

Meredy's face turned sour, "But I'm tired from walking around and scouting, can't we have a break?" She sat down on a rock and swung her legs around.

"I've already lessened your training load, and you're still complaining? What a pain you are."

She shot up from her seat, "I'll do it! Let's start!" I haven't threatened to throw her away for a while yet, the thought of being alone at any moment was still deep in her mind. Those scars are going to be a pain to deal with. Everything she's doing now was voluntary—not in the good way.

"We'll have a little warm up then," I grabbed my orb and had it twirl around me, "I'm going to attack you ten times, if you dodge seven of them, I'll let you rest for let's say…thirty minutes. Not only that, each extra one you dodge grants you another five minutes for a maximum of forty-five minutes." Meredy's eyes shone with determination—perfect. "However, if you dodge less than three of them, I'll have to increase the intensity of your training." I ended with a twisted smile.

"Y—you're not going all-out, are you?" Meredy leaned back.

"Of course not, I said we're doing a warm up. Besides, I don't want to disable you before we do any meaningful training." She breathed a sigh.

"Are you done stalling?"

"Yes, please—" I whipped my orb out, hitting Meredy on her right leg. "That's not fair!" She cried as she narrowly ducked my orb going for her head.

"What are you talking about?" I called another orb, adding another option for me to play with. "How long have you known me?" One orb went flying to Meredy's face. While she jerked her head to the left, I slammed the second one to her back, making her stumble to the ground. "You've been hit twice already, maybe two orbs is too much for you." I toned it back to one to give her a chance.

"Then why did you did it?" Dirt flew off her clothes as she patted her body.

"You've been too lax this entire time." Now that she's up again, I aimed for her left leg—a beautiful sidestep. "Plus, you've been getting a bit too bold lately." Going for her chest this time, I sped the orb up. She couldn't dodge in time. In exchange, she managed to avoid damage by redirecting the orb with her hands. "I won't count that one." Meredy beamed.

"Thank you very—" My orb barely missed her head. "This again!?"

"Of course. Lesson four: always strike when given the opportunity." I chained two attacks this time, first, I went for Meredy's left leg by accelerating my orb, throwing her off-balance. The second wave came to take her other leg, even that was thwarted with a somersault.

"One left! I got my thirty, time for the extra!" I grinned and whizzed my orb behind Meredy; she turned to face her final attack, but it never came.

Blood dripped from her right arm; I'm sure she must have felt a chilling denial as my ice rose sliced across her forearm, it was a pretty big gash too, the kind that most definitely would leave a scar. "That's cheating!" She cried.

"I never said I would only use my orbs now did I?"

"Well that's true but…I was so close!" She stamped her foot over and over again, growling along to each beat.

"Yeah, yeah," I pushed aside her childish side and walked over, "if I was serious, you wouldn't be able to dodge one." I gripped her undamaged arm and pulled her over. "Come on."

"Wait! What about my reward!?" The pout she gave asked whether if she was cheated.

"Calm down." I pushed her to the rock that she was sitting on. I went inside the tent and came back with a first-aid kit. "Girls should keep their skin as pretty as possible, letting a scar set in would be a huge regret to you down the line." I gently cleaned the wound—ignoring cries—applying simple treatment. I stroked Meredy's hair. "You did well, be proud of it." Meredy giggled and leaned into my touch, her clear voice was shining with pride. There's nothing else I could describe this feeling but peace, all my worries was gone just like that, I wasn't worrying about my past, everything was in front of me, isolated in happiness.

"You're finally happy." Meredy commented. "Did I do a good job?"

"What do you mean?"

"No matter how much trained, you were never happy, like you were always chasing after something. I didn't know what to do, Ur seemed to be troubled all the time. I thought, if I worked hard, you wouldn't be sad but…nothing changed no matter how hard I worked."

"I'm surprised you noticed."

"I'm always by your side after all." My heart fluttered. When I was young, my body was destroying itself, always causing trouble for my mother, I stuck with the treatment because I wanted to see her smile. This is what I wanted my mother to feel. "Hey mama," Meredy clasped her hand to her mouth, "I—I'm sorry, it just slipped—"

"I'll let it slide, I'm in a good mood right now."

"Thank you." An awkward silence took over. I stared at the bandaged wound, rubbing circles around it.

"You rest here for now, let me know if anything happens outside, I got something to do in the tent, don't disturb me."

"I got it." I separated from Meredy and lifted the tent flap. Two sleeping bags were laid out side by side with my bag stopping the two from joining. I knelt beside my bag and started digging.

"Found it." My worries were gone the moment I pulled out a pocket watch still in perfect shape. It was smaller than my palm; silver in colour, a single rose stood on the cover as the sole decoration. Pushing the button on top would open to a clock face. "Why am I doing this?" I asked myself as I stared at the gift I planned for Meredy. It was strange—unlike me. My colleagues call me a cruel woman, no words were closer to the truth. And yet, I was doing something unbecoming of me.

I remember I was walking down a street and happen to catch it at the corner of my eye, Meredy's smile surfaced for a second and before I knew it, I walked away from the store with a paper bag in tow. I rarely praised her to begin with, it felt like I was skipping a few steps. Nevertheless, I bought it, not doing anything with it would waste the money I spent. I sighed; took a deep breath and came back out with my gift hidden in my hand.

Meredy was still sitting on the rock, staring at her bandage. She smiled and swung her feet back and forth. Once she saw me, confusion replaced everything else.

"Did you forget something?"

"You could say that, hold out your hand." She did as was told, presenting her injured one. "The other hand."

"I thought you were going to punish me."

"Why would I do that? Even if I was going to, I would do it after your break is over." I placed my hand over Meredy's and let go of the watch.

"What's this?" Is was interesting to see her rack her brain around to figure out how the watch could be used for training.

"When I picked you up, you were a complete wimp, you just kept clinging to me despite there being other people to harass. And a year later, you're still clinging to me for dear life."

"Please don't!" Meredy went pale, further proving my point, I felt like my clothes were going to be torn off.

"Relax, let me finish." I stroked her hair, and her twitching settled. "In this year alone, you surpassed all my expectations. Each time you did, I raised my standards higher and higher. You exceeded them all beautifully. You were right. Ever since I joined this organisation, I've never been happy. However, taking caring of a clingy child like you, has showed me a small part of happiness." I tapped the watch lightly. "That is to celebrate our year together." Meredy was now wearing a dumbfounded expression. "I hope you know what you got yourself into because I'm still going to be in-charge of you for years to come." Meredy threw her weight at me, wetting my clothes.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" She repeated. "You're not going to abandon me?"

"I don't have any reason to." Her smile said it all, her fears of being thrown didn't exist anymore.

* * *

I woke up to a bright afternoon sun, still cursed by residual tiredness. Adding the fact, I slept with my head slanted forwards, my neck added another spell. I couldn't afford to sleep again either, from what the attendants are telling me, Magnolia is coming after the next stop. Which means I'll arrive in an hour later from now. I didn't gather as much information as I wanted to, I suppose the mountains was just a mining location, so nothing major was happening, I suspect that the ones snooping around in the cities will bear the most knowledgeable fruit. In any case, I can't do anything until everyone comes back.

I missed Magnolia's visage last time, nothing of the sort happening now. It was hard to miss the Fairy Tail building—it was the first thing I recognised. A magical city that shimmered with the sun compared to when I first came here, Magnolia seemed more brilliant. I can practically hear the shouting. Everything about this city seemed so right—I'm back.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Yeah, this took a while, and not with good reason this time. Well, I have a reason, not a very good one like I mentioned.**

 **Today marks a very special day for me so I hope everyone can forgive me on delaying a chapter post (I mean, I'm most likely not affecting anyone's lives. This is just a small fic on this site) I will post another chapter soon. Today last year, is when I posted my first chapter on this site. I didn't really think I would be still writing after and entire year of it. And I wouldn't had I not gained some fans or at least interest in my stories. I guess I'll talk about why I started to write and post fanfic.**

 **I used to be a lurker here, just reading stories because I was and still am procrastinating a lot. At some point I got really mad at some communities here. Granted, it wasn't a sudden burst of anger, it was more something I was building over a good deal of time. I was pissed that some of the works here aren't that good, while I can't say my works are anything to write home about either, this is what ultimately made me post chapters. I just had a thought that I could do much better than some of the stuff I read here.**

 **Flash forward a year later, I still haven't managed to write anything I feel like could knock it out the park. The closest one was the first story I wrote, which I'm still trying to beat. I felt like that wasn't my best work. I've received word that some people think I'm too harsh on myself. And yes, I should tone down the self-deprecation. But hey, I feel like that's how I improve and learn.**

 **So for now, I'm not really sure how long I'll keep writing these stories, my interests in becoming a writer is slowing shifting to something else creative. That's not to say that I don't enjoy writing, I just don't have the aggressive urge to improve anymore. While I have no idea when I'll stop, I do enjoy what I'm doing, so I'm going to keep writing.**

 **Finally, thank you all for reading my stories and leaving down your comments. I want to especially thank FlamingSkyDragon, you've been the most engaging reader I've had. Thank you for all the support, honestly, my will was breaking at one point and you pulled me along to keep writing, and that's only a slight exaggeration, I can't thank you enough.**

 **Of course, I hope everyone will keep on reading and enjoying my stories, most importantly, have a nice day!**


	11. Chapter 11: Around The City

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

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It was an awkward time for me, I wanted to eat the equivalent of breakfast when everything is selling lunch, hardy, heavy—something I could never finish when I just woke up. Regardless, I was walking along the streets of Magnolia hoping to find an outlier—I didn't. After debating between cooking food, myself or head to the Fairy Tail building, the latter won out. I needed to tell them my mission was successful anyway. I wasn't the first time Meredy told me I tend to prioritise my mission over daily necessities, and today won't be the last. I can just eat later anyway.

* * *

After today, I'm positive that I never want to visit the Fairy Tail building during lunch hours. It's loud to the point it made me ears hurt, it hard to find a place to sit—every seat was taken. While my own guild has plenty of members, we never gather in one place like this save the yearly gatherings. Knowing that I'll be coming here often is quite the change of pace. I weaved around for a good minute or two until I found a familiar face, or hair to be exact. Dipping up and down was the head of Natsu, I presume he's eating at speeds that might lead to suffocation. Sitting on him, was his ever-trusty feline, Happy, whom just flew off with a fish wrapped with a ribbon, even if the one he's trying to woo is a female cat, I can't help but feel like that gift is nothing short of tacky.

Right across Natsu was—to my luck—Master Makarov. I waved to the Guild Master and got a surprised reaction from him, making Natsu follow his gaze in curiosity which turned to joy with a friendly smile.

Once I got over the elder asked, "Did something happen? You returned faster than I thought you would." I was about to give him an honest answer when I remembered that Natsu was here.

"Things went smoother than I thought."

"I see." Makarov nodded. "Well you're the first one back, do you want to tell me what happened now, or should we wait for the others?"

"I don't want to repeat myself."

"I understand."

"Hey gramps," Natsu cut in, "what are you two talking about?"

"I just had her team run an errand for me."

"That's it?" Seemingly satisfied, Natsu turned to me, "Did you eat yet?"

"I haven't, I was about to."

"Sweet! I can really show you around then." He grinned. "Are you free?"

"I am, I returned earlier than I expected."

"Cool," Natsu quickly shovelled the rest of his food, "gramps, I'm going to show her around."

"Don't break anything. I'll use your savings to repay any damage you cause."

"Got it!" Without missing a beat, Natsu smirked, pulled me by the arm and dashed away before I could even have a say in anything. "We're going to find you something to eat first."

"Hey!" His energy is tiring for someone that just woke up, my legs were barely touching the floor in poor attempts to keep up. "You're going too fast, slow down."

Natsu kicked open his guild door, "Sorry, I don't want to waste time." Finally, he stopped to let me catch a breath.

"So, where are we going?"

"Since Mira isn't around, we're going to the next best place to eat!" He declared with excitement in his eyes, adding more bounce to his step.

"Lead the way then, hopefully it isn't packed by the time we get there."

"Sure!" Natsu started walking in a direction that seemed random to me. But, most likely leads to a place where a lot of restaurants can be found. And my normal nose confirmed it, amazing, salivating aroma floated in the air. Soon, my eyes found the source. Loads and loads of food stalls were set up side by side to each other in rows on either side of the road. It was like a festival; the place was packed with people lining up for street food.

"Is this where we're going to eat?"

"If you want to, but I'm planning to go there." Natsu pointed to a building behind a food stall. It was white in colour with a sign that says: 'Magnolia Delights'. "The food is great." Natsu continued to sell me on the idea of eating at the place he told me of. The truth is that I don't have any standards when it comes to food as long it doesn't get me sick, being a part of a dark guild for the better part of your life generally doesn't include tasty meals. I didn't stop me from learning how to cook when Meredy pulled a sour face every time I fed her something when she was young.

"You're the expert around here, I'm putting all of my trust in you, I'm fine with anything as long as it isn't expensive."

"About that," Natsu pulled me along, "I come here sometimes, so they give me cheap food as long as I let them use my name."

"How often do you come here?" I can't but feel like Natsu got the short end of the stick of the deal, it makes me worry about how many times he's been used like this.

"Whenever the guild is too busy to have lunch."

"And how often is that?"

"When Mira isn't around." I sighed in response. He did get the short end of the stick.

"You're just being used without good enough return."

"But the food is good." He smiled and opened the doors. Inside was a very typical family restaurant, lots of seats and tables crammed in a small space, with the occasional waiter walking by. By opening the door, Natsu unlocked a chamber to a treasure trove of fantastic smells, butter, grilling meat. At the back, a hallway only covered by a sheet of blue fabric hid the factory. "That smells real good, I think I'll have that."

"How can you even make out what you're smelling from all this?"

"Huh?" Natsu folded his arms, assuming deep thought for what amounts to a simple question. "I don't know, experience I guess."

"Natsu! It's been a while." A waiter called out. Aside from his grey uniform—only an apron having their logo stitched on—nothing else stands out about the person, just short brown hair and a friendly smile. "And who's this with you? A new member?"

"I wish, she's someone I know, so treat her well."

"Of course, we wouldn't have nearly as good of a business without you. So, table for two, right? Then come right this way." The waiter led us a window seat that overlooked the street we were just walking across. It was slightly cramped but, looking at the other compatriots, their situation wasn't anything to be envied either. He brought us two glasses of water and a menu. "Take your time." With those words, he sped off to tend to his other duties. I gave a glance at the menu, looking for anything I couldn't cook myself.

"Do you have anything you recommend?" I asked Natsu who was smiling outside the window.

"Everything is good here, just pick whatever." I suppose I should have expected that answer from someone that moves on instinct and experience. He's utterly useless, I'm sure in terms of being a good date—potentially why he's still a bachelor, a shame too, his looks must attract a good number of girls—he's at the bottom of the list. Seeing that I was left to my own muses, I decided on the special for the day, pasta with a small salad as the side. "Are you ready?"

"I am," I replied, still eyeing a combo filled with local food, "go ahead." I might as well make the most of my stay here.

"You sure are taking a long time."

"If you were _help_ me, I wouldn't be taking so long." I quipped, making sure to add a scowl.

"Sorry, I didn't think you would take so long." Natsu called the waiter over and gave our orders. Though I'm sure it's mainly because I'm with Natsu, the waiter sure left in a hurry to relay the order to the kitchen. Natsu grinned rested his head behind his hands. "So where did you go?"

"Nothing much, just up a mountain."

"Did anything fun happen?"

"I met a talking cat, if that can be considered fun."

"So, like Happy?"

"No, of course not, Happy is weak and annoying, the cat I found was strong, freakishly strong." I would even consider it an insult to compare Diana to Happy. "I don't think I'll get much out of it but, I'll ask anyway, did anything interesting happen while I was gone?"

"I kicked Gray's ass." He said naturally, though I'm sure nothing came out of the fight.

"I thought Erza usually stops the fight before any development happens."

"Erza wasn't there," Natsu answered with a sulk, "she said she had a job to do, wouldn't even bring us, her team! When she gets back, I'm gonna give her thrashing!"

"Let me guess, since Erza isn't here, you don't want to take a job because you would feel like you're leaving her out."

"Why would I? She's the jerk for leaving her team behind!"

"But you're bored." I decided to drop his main issue for the pass day or so. "You can try to hide it if you want, no one would be that excited to dragged someone around their city."

"W—well, we had a promise." Natsu looked out the window. What a terrible liar, I love dealing with these people. It's like dealing with an impressionable child, easy to lead to get what you want.

"But Meredy isn't back yet. Aren't you the jerk for leaving her out like this?" Just then, the waiter from before delivered our drinks along with a plate of cupcakes that I don't recall ordering.

"It's on the house." The waiter replied to my confusion. "The food will come soon, please wait a while longer."

"Well," I brought a cup of milk tea to my lips, smiling at the warm drink sliding down my throat, bringing along a slight sweetness, "since I am your excuse to kill time, I expect you to bring me the joys of your city." I finished with a smile.

"You can count on me! Then what do you want to do first after lunch?" I quickly placed a finger over his lips. Natsu blankly looked at me for explanation.

"I believe I told you I expect you to guide me. Right now, I know _nothing_ of this city, just show me a good time." Natsu brushed away my finger.

"Then I'll take you to my favourite spots."

"I'm looking forward to it."

"Here you go," the waiter slid a plate filled with colourful food, "Magnolia Combo and Fiore-Style Steak." A plate of steak was delivered to Natsu.

"It's finally here!" Natsu grabbed a fork and stabbed his food. While he had a big chunk of food in front of him, I had trouble at where to start. The assortment of local foods were arranged like a theme park, the big attractions right in the middle supported by the lesser known, but still successful attractions. I didn't know what any of the five samplers are, I don't exactly spend my already few free hours researching foods tourists should eat when visiting cities, those are reserved for drunken nights—which is to say: never. However, this didn't stop the feeling of unknown swelling up.

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked. He held up his fork along with his half-eaten steak to me. "Do you want to trade?"

"It's not that." I speared a small fried ball on the far right of the plate, watched as yellow sauce erupted before biting into chewy walls. "I just have trouble deciding what to eat first. However, I don't think I can finish all this, would you like the leftovers?"

"Really? You're the best!" Natsu pumped his fist.

"What is this by the way?" I waved another golden-brown ball.

"I don't know, I had some when I was a kid, I didn't really like it." Maybe I shouldn't have someone like him to guide me.

"Really?" I popped it into my mouth. "It's creamy, a bit sweet, I like it. Maybe it's just been too long, I leave the last one for you." I move around to the opposite side. It was a bread bun the size of my fist. A shiny glaze covered the brown head, topped with a seedy hat. I pulled off a small piece of the bread. Light brown filling were housed inside. Curious to find out was it was, I threw the bit in my mouth. "It's fish." I muttered.

"I know that one!" Natsu cried out like a child. "Lucy dragged me to eat one when she first moved in, she said something about it being popular snack."

"I'm more surprised you remembered what she said, give that you aren't blessed with a normal brain." I relished Natsu's outburst as a side dish to the bread I was eating, even Meredy didn't throw this big of a tantrum, I guess it's just another side of motherhood I never experienced. "Oh right," I started after finishing the bread, "I forgot to ask, did your Master ever tell you what we were talking about?"

"Gramps never tell me things, always nagging something about saving money. What were you talking about?"

"Just some rumours." I answered so he wouldn't keep pushing for answers. Next was the item furthest away from me, a small bowl of stew. "Dark guilds are causing problems like always."

"Want me to help?"

"We have more than enough people, adding you along wouldn't help much. So just live life like you've always been doing, we'll handle everything else." Like Jellal mentioned, there's no need for them to dirty their hands in things like this. People in the light should make full of their peace, we'll take most of the burden. "Are you really that bored you're willing to take a job that offers no pay?"

"Helping friends is free." He shrugged.

"I'll keep that in mind. For now, why don't you tell me about this city? You know, things people like to do for fun. All that."

"That would spoil the fun, I'll show you." Natsu had already cleaned his plate and asked for another while I was still half-way through the stew. I decided to leave it and move on to a small pot of salad sitting across the stew. "Hey, let's check out the market after this. They sell really cool things; our guild always goes there to find gifts. And I really need your help with something." Natsu continued, telling me why he wanted to go look at handcrafts in the first place. "We're throwing a birthday party for Laki soon." It really begs the question, how often do Fairy Tail hold parties like these, with the amount of members, surely they can basically throw one frequently, but then, that would undermine the meaning of celebration.

"You really are milking me for what I'm worth huh?" I didn't mind of course, I didn't think that Natsu would try something like this. "Well, I'm fine with helping you pick out a present, knowing you, you would give tasteless ones." It isn't all bad either, walking around town without having to worry about anything is relaxing, dragging around a boisterous guy like Natsu is always fun. Finally came the final piece, it was a tart of sorts, with fruits adorned like gems.

"I don't, I just don't know what girls like."

"That's a tricky thing to dive into, like guys, we're not the same, we have different tastes. But we do have things we gravitate towards. It all depends on you." I took a slice of the tart and bit off the tip, a well-balanced sweetness, rich in fruits filled my mouth, ending with a nice snap from the base.

"What do you mean?"

"Are you trying to woo her? Or do you want to celebrate a platonic relationship? The gift will have to change a lot according to what you want." Though, most people would happily accept any gift as long you can show you've put thought into it.

"We're just friends."

"Then that makes things much easier." I took another tart and the remaining stew before passing the entire plate to Natsu. "You can help yourself."

"Thanks!" Natsu instantly went for the fried ball, tossed it in the air and ate it. "You're right, this stuff is pretty good." I returned a smile. From the small sample I had, the food in Magnolia is great, I wonder what else does this city have to offer? Maybe Meredy was on to something about wanting to move to a city; I certainly don't recall being so interested in touring around like this. Perhaps it's just this city in general? I looked at the man that will provide all the answers to me, all served with pink hair and an explosive personality.

"What?"

"Nothing at all."

Following Natsu's guidance, we ended up in a wide street that branched off wildly as a tree, each one holding many stores selling trinkets and memorabilia. Here, I found many people like me, travellers were easy to spot from clothes that emphasised mobility than aesthetics; for the locals, casual clothing were the favourite.

"Do you already have something in mind by any chance?"

"Not really."

"In that case, books are a good place to start, does she read?"

"She has glasses." I slapped my comrade across the face. He really surpasses all my expectations…

"What was that for!?"

"For being rude, don't make assumptions like that; have you seen her read books during free times?"

"Yeah, not as much as Levy though."

"Great, the key for gifting books is one: avoiding giving duplicates. Two: make sure to write a message. Three: choose something the receiver will like."

"How am I supposed to know all that?"

"If you know the person, it's quite easy. For example, I know Meredy likes to read fiction more than non-fiction, that alone already filters a lot of options. Then you just keep thinking of the person's preferences and you'll soon get a small range to pick from. In reverse, I read non-fiction more, so Meredy would know what books better suit me." Seeing his frown drew a sigh from me. "You weren't paying attention, were you?"

"Books are boring, so I don't care about them."

"We'll just brute force our way then. Come on." I grabbed Natsu's arm and dragged him to the closet shop, much to his objections.

I was once again impressed by the city. Magnolia's shopping selection is broad, just about anything I could think of, and I'll find it around the corner, it was almost to an unsettling extent. It was here, where Natsu showed me his tastes in gifts, in other words, stressing function and not much of anything else. That's not to say he's not thinking about the recipient, most, if not all of his choices were to make people happy. However, his lack of understanding really hampers his ability to get the message across. Had I not stopped him, he really may have given someone a set of multitools.

We walked away from a store with an elegant notebook with flower designs on the cover. "How do you normally buy gifts for people?" I had to ask, curiosity was getting the better of me.

"I pick something," Natsu started with a bored expression, "Happy shuts it down and the bastard suggests another one, then we get in a big fight, so we buy both and see who wins." The reply given was surprising, yet, I couldn't think of something else that better fits Natsu

"I'm guessing Happy wins most of the time?"

"He doesn't! He's just in the lead!" Hearing how Happy _can_ buy sensible things, how did he ever think raw fish makes for a good present?

"Your stubbornness aside, let's finish your present right now."

"You mean we have to buy something else?"

"Not quite," from my pockets, I pulled out a pen and handed it to him, "write a message on the first page."

"Why?"

"Just do it!" We sat on a bench close by. Natsu took the pen, stopping his hands right before the tip could touch paper.

"What do I write?"

"Anything is fine, its just a way for you to say how much appreciates her being your friend." Still, his hand didn't move. "Did you offend her lately?"

"I think I broke her glasses by crashing into from a fight."

"And you didn't apologies because you were too busy getting back into the fray I assume."

"Wow!" Genuine wonder was on his face, his eyes seem to sparkle, mouth dropped in awe. "Are you a psychic?"

"I'm not. This is perfect, just say you're sorry that you broke her glasses, hope there's no hard feelings, offer to pay back for her glasses and wish that you two remain good friends." His handwriting wasn't a jumbled mess like I was hoping to tease him for, it was clean, strong and beautiful. His strokes were slow, carefully planned, unlike the way he fights. "Your handwriting is nice." He dropped the pen and stared into the distance. His pupils dilated; he was breathing like he just came out of water. "Natsu?"

"Ahh!" He screamed, hugging his head. "No more! Erza, stop!" I pulled him close to restrain his trashing—incredibility hard for someone that had less strength. And the overwhelming smell of smoke didn't help either.

"Erza is not here." I said firmly, gripping harder on his jacket. "Stop freaking out. How much are you afraid of her? You wuss."

"What did you say!?" Anger burned away his fear and the old Natsu came back like an explosion. "I'm not scared of her! Once she comes back, I'm going to kick her ass!" Fire shot out of his mouth as he kept taunting a woman that wasn't even here. I pulled away from him to save face, which, at the same time robbed me of a lot of heat, I can imagine he would make an amazing body pillow during the winter.

"Well, now I know why you're handwriting is so clean."

"The torture never ended!"

"I'll listen to your tragedy later, just finish writing so we can get back to the tour already."

He paused for a moment, pouting: "Fine."

The city was dyed a fantastic golden orange once we were done with the tour, after today, I could work for the next three months and not get a single day off and I would be fine. There's something to casually walking around a city with great company. It takes my mind off things in ways other activities couldn't. I always felt like I was wasting time, not today. It was like want Natsu believed in, spending time with friends is never a waste of time. And I suppose yes, I do see him as a friend, a good one at that—a stupid, silly, springy, spontaneous friend.

Natsu and I were about to go our separate ways, with our day ending at the Fairy Tail building. No one else came back in the time I spent with Natsu.

"Man, that was fun! Thanks for helping me with the gift!"

"You're welcome, I was just free at the time."

"Want to hang out again?" I had an image of me and Meredy shopping without a disguise, with Jellal carrying our bags. Finally done with our jobs, no one would chase us down, free to live our lives.

"I don't know, I don't have many days like these. I can't afford to throw away my days doing this."

"Why not? Didn't you have fun?"

"I did." I decide to lay out the truth. "We can't pursue a normal life anymore Natsu. My past and sins will forever haunt me, they attack me every night. No matter how many people I help, that won't change, time won't reverse that easily. Even if we want to, we can't just freely enjoy life. Trust me, if I could, I wouldn't have Meredy follow me on this path. She could be with Fairy Tail. I can't in good conscious be a part you guys while our work isn't done." I started to walk away. "See you soon." Without waiting, I left. Shutting out the door given to me.

It was one that was unpredictable, where the destination could yield two vastly different endings. That scares me; excites me. I looked behind me, instead of the building, I saw Natsu waving, his sun-like smile, unchanged from the things I just said. There was only one thing I could: smile and return the gesture.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Consider this chapter as a make-up for all the time I was absent. Yeah, the past few chapters have been quite slow, I've been having trouble juggling a bunch of elements, I never struggled with writing Juvia's story because Natsu and her are guild mates, it's easy to have the two find some time together. A different matter entirely when the girl here is a workaholic and puts work above most things, but we're getting there.**

 **And it's about time for me to reference the stuff I wrote for the summary of this story, it's not all there, but hey! That's a sign of progress, and I'm taking everything I can get at this point.**

 **I was a bit rusty when I wrote this, with me taking a minor break due to exams and all that, so if the quality and the interactions weren't as good. First off, I'm so sorry for that. Second, there's the explanation, not an excuse. Regardless, I hope you like this chapter anyway. There was a bunch of fanning around in this chapter, I know I put a lot of time into the food, a bunch of shoddy description because I never described food before, that was the best I could come up with.**

 **And with my rambling done, I hope you all have a nice day!**


	12. Chapter 12: Meeting The Backup

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

It took three whole days before everyone gathered together, with Mirajane's group being the slowest. In the meantime, I told Meredy and Jellal the results of Natsu's tour to deal with the extra waiting time. Now, we were gathered back in Master Makarov's office, which somehow managed to accumulate even more clutter, making a meeting between six people seem more like canned food factory. The one taking control, is of course, the elder sitting behind his desk.

"I'm glad you two returned safely," Master Makarov said, "I was starting to worry, are you sure you don't want a day first?"

"We're fine, we just followed a lead that didn't get anywhere." Mirajane answered for the two. "Please start."

Jellal cut in, "I'll start with what I've found. If you've found the same information, just omit it." We all nodded. "I went to Edelweiss mines," flashing a look at Erza, only receiving a shrug, "unfortunately, I didn't find too much useful information. They call themselves Rectifiers, a dark guild formed not too long ago. However, they are gathering members at a scary pace. I couldn't find the exact figures, the one I interrogated taunted me about it. He said that his guild doubled in size within two weeks. That does give us an idea on the forces we're going to be dealing with.

"Mining has accelerated, though while the lacrimas are being transported, they get raided, that's how they levy lacrimas from governed mines. I have no idea where they are taking them however."

"In that case, I'll go next." I suggested. Getting no opposition, I spoke my mind. "The mountain also didn't yield much, I know they plan on transporting everything to Westpine. And in two weeks their next phase starts. While it might be a stretch, we can say that Westpine is their base, or at least a crucial place in their plans."

Through the meeting, we managed to find a few things:

1\. We have about two weeks until their next phase

2\. We need to act fast or numbers will overwhelm us

3\. After Fairy Tail, they'll be going for Saber Tooth, until, all the major guilds are taken down

4\. The leader is someone called Kent, a former member of Morning Griffon

5\. Their base _is_ in Westpine.

"Thank you all for helping us, we'll take the rest from here." Jellal said.

"You can't expect us to bail out after what you told us," Erza interjected, "we're going to see this through to the end." Pain was evident in Jellal's eyes, one that was gone in a flash, taken over by a sigh and eyes that held annoyance.

"I already told you, let us handle it. Why can't you understand this?" My teammate held his head and stared at Erza. Seeing that this conversation could easily devolve into an hour-long argument—the kind that doesn't go anywhere—I stepped in.

"Jellal, now isn't the time for this." I placed a hand on his shoulder.

Thankfully, I wasn't alone, "She's right," The Guild Master said, "the truth is that these idiots are after Fairy Tail, I'm not about to sit here and let people knock down my family without doing anything. I appreciate your reasonings, but I'm not so frail as to let someone else take care of guild problems." Seeing that Erza's victorious smirk wasn't helping in easing Jellal's nerves, I hoped changing the subject would give him some breathing room.

"In this case, attacking their base at once would be more effective, how much time would you like to prepare? Us three are always ready, we've done this for years now, raiding a base at a moments notice is no less foreign to us than our own magic."

"Sorry for having you to match with us," Master Makarov closed his eyes, humming slowly, "I think I can get a few teams ready by next week." I was hoping for two days, not seven. I hid my gripes and nodded. "Would it be fine if I send three teams of three?"

"I don't mind but, I'd prefer not to have members that aren't too destructive. If they are transporting incredible amounts of lacrima, having volatile people in this mission would be dangerous." The last thing I want is to have an entire building collapse on us because of a moron that doesn't know self-restraint. "One more thing, I want them to follow our lead, we have more experience in these kinds of things, so if you're sending out three teams, would it be fine with you if we're leading one team each?"

"That's fine by me, in fact, why don't you pick out the people you want?"

"A tempting offer." Being able to create a squad to complement mine own weaknesses or fill it with utility would be fantastic. "However, I don't know your members well enough, it'll be best if we leave it up to you." More than anything, having good teamwork is more crucial than anything I could come up with.

"Come back in three days, I'll have your team members in that time."

"Any complaints?" I looked to Jellal, who's just resigned to his fate, you can tell from his slouched shoulders, hesitation to face anyone in the eye or just the lack of vocalisation from him.

"You don't need to ask me, do you?" A dry, low tone answered back. If you don't know him as well, one would think that sound is coming from hate. But no, he's sulking, much like how a child would if he didn't get his way.

"Meredy?"

"None." She replied. We put back on our disguise; I dragged Jellal by the arm; Meredy gathered up her notes.

"Thank you again for helping us, we'll see you in three days." Giving our final comment, we left to join a loud environment. "Since we're going to be in-charge of a team each, we can be a bit more flexible compared to our three-person raids. So how about this, we'll have one team cause a distraction, once most combat forces are drawn away, we'll have another team round up the leaders while our final team would make sure they can't use the lacrimas in the fight."

"Then who is doing what?" Meredy asked.

"We can have the strongest team cause the distraction." Jellal stepped in, snapping back to his old self. "Ultear, you'll go take care of the lacrima, your magic can be used more defensively. Either I or Meredy can swap roles." I nodded to his plans and Meredy didn't seem to have anything else to add; battling a lot of people is always a pain, seemly endless bodies coming after you are the worst. I wish our planning were this smooth when we first started out, disagreements were flying across the room, scaring our other members in the process.

"We'll go with that."

"I just hope Master Makarov doesn't include Erza in this."

I delivered a quick chop to Jellal's head. "You can be so overprotective sometimes."

"I don't want to hear that from you." He mumbled, eyeing Meredy.

"At least I'm trying to cut back. You, on the other hand, didn't learned a thing." I pushed opened the guild doors.

"Leave him alone," Meredy said, deciding to defend him, "there's nothing that he can do about it now. Even if he could, he would just bend to Erza's will."

"Speaking of which, I didn't take you as a pushover Jellal, why are never that like a puppet when dealing with us?" I put on a grin. "Are you suddenly a kid trying to get the attention of his crush in any way possible?"

"It's nothing like that." Jellal slowed down his steps, "I've caused her so much trouble and pain in past, it's another part of redeeming myself. I'm determined to set things right." And there it is; he's possibly the only one that can surpass me in this journey of redemption—in terms of being stubborn.

"And when will that be?" I threw back, getting rid of all joking.

"I don't know…" one step, "I guess…" another, "until she finds happiness." He looked back at the guild building for a second, then sped up pace for the lost time.

"That won't happen." He stopped. "You know a part of her grieve is that you're still in pain— still fighting. She hides it well but, you know this. As long as you're with us, she won't be fully satisfied. You already know the answer, she worries for her friends."

"Are you trying to get rid of me?"

"Not in the slightest. I'm just reminding you, once you're in peace, she will too."

"I know." Jellal turned back on me with a wry smile. "In some regards, Meredy is like Erza."

I returned the look. "Yeah." Her form of happiness is my happiness. We know when they'll be at peace. For us; we have no clue. Until we find out, we'll keep fighting.

* * *

It was time for us to meet our temporary teammates. The three-day wait was hard on us, me especially, I had to hold in my urge to head out ahead of schedule while suppressing Jellal's too. Meredy was the final leash to our original plans, she's always been the support for the two of us. I'm not sure how useful the support will end up being. Everything was under wraps essentially, I didn't know who they are, what skills they have, the amount of experience they have in covert operations that can easily translate to full-on assaults, all I can do is believe in the Guild Master's opinions. That being said, while I do respect the Guild Master, that doesn't lift the heavy feeling I have. I was wearing casual clothes, just a white shirt and a pair of jeans. For the actual trip, I'm going for darker clothing. We'll arrive at Westpine in the evening where we'll wait until night before our mission starts. Honestly, all this waiting around is killing me. Jellal does have a few points in being quicker, hence why we are bringing in more people to counteract the increasing number of people.

We arrived early in terms of the guild's schedule—nine o'clock exactly. I could see much fewer people in the guild, which made finding a tiny old man that much easier. He was sitting at the back, holding a frown that held a bit of worry. Beside him were people I've seen before, most had their strengths not in power, but flexibility. And like he said, our new team members stood in groups of three.

"You're here," the elder jumped off his seat, "though I'm sure know who these people are, I'll have them introduce themselves anyway." He said, taking into account for our disguises.

The group on the right stepped forward, consisting of Lisanna, Wendy and Levy. "I'm Lisanna Strauss, look forward to working with you!"

"W—wendy Marvell, please go easy on me!" The Dragon Slayer added with a bow.

"Levy McGarden here, though you three already know who I am."

Then the group in the middle stepped forward, more familiar faces, one in particular—armour clinking with each step—triggered Jellal's worry switch. "Erza Scarlet," she crossed her arms, "you don't have to worry a thing when I'm here." She made eye contact with Jellal, smirked, and left the rest to her teammates. The next one, I can relate to, she was holding a child in her arms, whispering how she needs to behave while she's gone. The child seems to have more interest in playing with her mother's green hair, tugging on it all the while absently nodding her head along. Beside the mother, was a young man that was basically repeating what the mother was saying.

"Bisca, and that's my husband Alzack, this is Asuka." The woman hurried, "come on sweetie, I'll be back soon, until then, Granddaddy will play with you okay?" While the couple was explaining to their child. The final group introduced themselves.

A blonde reluctantly stepped forwards; golden keys that hung around her waist jingled. "How did I end up here? Master just called me after Laki's birthday ended…why—" the girl met my eyes, "I'm Lucy Heartfilia, nice to meet you." I nodded.

Next was a woman equally as hesitant, though she hid it much better with a curtain of wavy-blue hair in the way. "If it's for the sake of the guild, Juvia would give up her time with Gray." This one worried me the most, I don't want to deal with a love-struck maiden, seeing Meredy's reaction, I'm guessing she wants to be with Juvia.

"It'll be fine you two!" A woman wrapped her arms around the two. From here, I could smell a crushing concentration of alcohol. "We'll just go back to doing whatever after this is over!" For some reason, she's wearing minimal clothing at the top, but a pair of jeans excellently hid her bottom half. I can't say that her slightly tan skin doesn't go well with her dark hair however. "I'm Cana Alberona by the way!" She took a massive swig out of her bottle of what I assume to be alcohol.

"Now that you know who you team members are," Master Makarov started, "go ahead and choose which team you want to go with."

"But Master! We don't even know who these people are, at least have them introduce themselves."

"I'm sure they will once you have your strategy meeting."

"In that case." Jellal's finger was on his way to Lisanna's group.

"We're with you." Erza declared. "I'm not done with what we talked about."

"Wait a sec!" Bisca cried. "Erza, you know these people?"

"Of course."

"Absolutely not!" Jellal snapped. "I'm not dealing with someone as stubborn as you."

Me and Meredy exchanged looks—we're of course going to mess with him! Plus, the team I want would help with my task. "I'm going with Juvia's group." Meredy said.

"And I'll go with Lisanna's team." I sealed Jellal's fate. He jerked his head towards us; we stuck our tongues out.

"I owe you two," Erza grabbed Jellal by the arm—ignoring his protests—and looked towards the parents, "follow me."

"You really can't tell who's supposed to be the leader huh? Well, we might as well get going. Master Makarov, we're going to borrow your office for a while."

"I don't mind." He replied.

"Come with me." I gave my team a friendly smile; their nerves eased somewhat, I'm sure after I lose the disguise, they'll be able to trust me a bit more. Once everyone was in, I locked the doors and took off my disguise, a wave of gasps flooded the room. "Now you know how serious this incident can become right?"

"So that's why you smelled so familiar." Wendy said.

"Master Makarov gave the details on what this job is about correct?"

"Um…that's right."

"That makes things easier. Our main goal this time, is of course, to stop the madman trying to attack guilds. By the time we reach Westpine, it'll be in the evening, we wait until night time before we begin. In the meantime, we need to gather information such as: where exactly their base is. When everything is done, we'll begin our attack. When we're inside, I want us to focus on two things: find out where the lacrimas are. To do that, just wring the answer out of people. However, do it discreetly. Next, we'll make sure no one will have access to the lacirma."

"But we're not great at fighting!" Levy shouted. "Wouldn't it be better if we have Erza's team do it?"

"We decided this beforehand: the strongest team will cause a distraction; one will take out the leader; the remaining one will secure the lacrima. Think about it, most of our magic can be used effectively when hunkering down."

"I guess…then, what about Lisanna?"

"She and I will be the frontline, you'll provide support and Wendy can jump between the two roles."

"What do we do if the enemy finds out we're there? While we're trying to find the lacrima I mean." Wendy asked with a hand raised.

"Then we give up on hiding and force our way through, not an elegant solution but, Jellal would be drawing away most of the enemy, so it won't be too hard."

"B—but I'm not as strong as the others." I've heard about her lack of confidence in terms of combat but, it was more than I thought. I suppose I can do them some service.

"It'll be fine Wendy!" Lisanna wrapped an arm around her. "We're here to help you."

"That does bring me to my next question, how well are you three in terms of teamwork?"

"We've been on a job together many times, so we're pretty tight!"

"After this, I want to go out to the field for a bit, I want all of us to familiarise ourselves with what we can do. Well, I mainly want to see for myself first-hand of your capabilities. Also, you three might as well do the same with me." They nodded. "Finally, consider this a team bonding exercise, I want us all to get along okay?"

We moved to the middle of a forest, which, according to Lisanna, is far away from Natsu's house so he shouldn't be walking in on our exercise. It didn't stop me from learning that he lives in the middle of a forest, I can't think of anything else that would fit him more—except maybe living in a cave.

"As the leader, I'll start first." I summoned my orb. "I use time magic as my main way of attacking." I pulled two more orbs. "Depending on how I use it, I can make copies of my orb by summoning them from different times. I made one zip around the three in circles; another bobbing up and down slowly; the final one orbiting me at normal speeds. "As you can see, I can affect the timeline of an individual object as well."

"That's pretty useful." Lisanna muttered. I made my extra orb disappear.

"Of course, I can do much more with my magic but, the basics are those two. Also," an ice bud grew from the ground, expanding to a rose bush, "Ice-make serves as a back-up."

"It's the same as Gray."

"Well, we're influenced by the same person. Next up is Levy."

"Leave it to me!" The petite girl stepped up while the other two gave moral support.

I wonder if it's because of me or the if it's them, aside from when they first met me, they weren't tense at all, we're about to invade a dark guild's base, where danger is high and uncertainty not lagging far behind in the slightest. It's all smiles for them. I guess this is another part of Fairy Tail that makes them so special. Depending on friends to help you. This isn't a foreign concept to me at all, over the years, I've learned the hard way. And yet, despite me being ahead for some years, their spirit of friendship, is better honed than mine. By sacrificing efficiency for relationships, they shattered the barrier of friendship and became family.

* * *

It was finally time, I was just about near my breaking point; I made sure to rest up on the night before and prepared everything under sheer impatience. My enthusiasm didn't translate to the others however. There's something about gathering at a train station at seven in the morning that seems brutal for people that aren't used to it. Jellal picked this time, I assume it has something to do with arrival time, he does like timing things perfectly. Knowing him, he'll give us two to three hours to gather some information, which means we'll arrive at around six. If the yawning is anything to go by, this trip to Westpine will involve a lot less strategy meetings than I would like.

The Fairy Tail members shuffled in a train cart while we followed behind them, some rubbing their eyes, others slapped their cheeks or pinched them. The train cart opened to a narrow corridor with doors leading to different compartments. A soft red carpet sunk to my footsteps and a fresh smell was in the air like the train was cleaned recently.

"Jellal," I patted his shoulders, "I think we should sit with our teams this time. We do have different roles." Jellal just smiled.

"I was about to say the same thing."

"Don't get too mad alright?" I started to follow Wendy's direction.

"It's fine, Erza and I had a talk."

"I look forward to hearing about it." I closed the door to my compartment. On both sides of the box, were comfortable-looking seats that could fit three people on each side. "Now girls," I took a seat across the three, Wendy was the closest to the door, Lisanna in the middle, Levy by the window, "do you want to talk about what we're going to do first, or would you like to sleep?"

"I'll sleep…" groaned Lisanna, "last night was too busy at the guild, I didn't have much to rest." She leaned against Wendy, who was already asleep.

"Me too." Levy added, lying on Lisanna's lap. "I can't pay attention…" a yawn "if I'm sleepy."

"Rest well then." I smiled and took out a book—not opening it yet, but rather using it as a place to rest my hands. I was once more taking a final look at Magnolia, the lake picking up sunlight, Fairy Tail ever the beacon.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm finally getting there, this arc is taking longer than I thought it would. Sorry if this chapter seemed a bit jumpy at times. In hindsight, the best course of action would to be splitting this chapter into three bits, I find the jumps a bit jarring, and I'm not good enough to write a better solution. Which does lead me to an important question, would you guys prefer that? It doesn't really hurt me in anyway, if I am to split chapters whenever I feel like I should, I can either throw it all up in one day, or upload the parts daily until the parts are all uploaded.**

 **If anyone asks why most of the Fairy Tail members I picked are girls, that's one part laziness, and another part by design. A lot of the guys are very combat focused, but I wanted people that aren't hence why Mirajane isn't there. While I did shoehorned Erza in, that's mainly for Jellal's character. There are male mages that aren't combat focused, such as Warren, Reedus and I guess Droy? I don't know too much about them though** **—both personality wise and magic wise—** **and I couldn't be assed to do some research on which male wizards are more suitable for this job. So in conclusion: I'm just really lazy.**

 **Not a lot of funny stuff going on this chapter, I did put a decent amount of character development(I think). At this point, I think we can get into the more fun stuff after this arc. That being said, I basically lose my excuse for Ultear and crew to be in Magnolia, so I have to think of another excuse...I'll work on that. But I digress, I think that this story is going more on the side of serious side rather than a light-hearted story like I wanted. Maybe I shouldn't have picked a former dark guild member to write stories like that. But gosh darn it, I'll pull in back the balance one way or another.**

 **For now, I hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!**


	13. Chapter 13: The Assault

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

My book clasped shut; for a while now, pages being slowly dyed orange told me that it was time to wake my team up. I reached a hand out. Starting with Wendy, I lightly shook her shoulders, her hair rocking like a pendulum. How does she get her hair to be so soft? Just having it brush against my hands, and I want to run my hands along her sapphire rivers.

"Hmm?" Wendy stirred; she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"It's time to get up, we've got work to do." I moved to Levy, lifting her from Lisanna's lap. "Levy, you all had enough rest."

"Err…wh…" She copied Wendy's moves, staring at me with vacant eyes. Now for Lisanna, I patted Lisanna's shoulders.

"Three more minutes…"

"We don't have time, I want to save some to talk about what exactly we're going to do." I sighed and moved to same trick I used to wake Meredy up when gentle is too lenient. I made a tiny piece of ice, slid it down their napes, sat down and watch everything unfold. They leaped from their seats, reaching—clawing for an icy cube. Snickering as the frantic dance progressively got wilder, I added another tally to my success.

"Why did you do that!?" Lisanna cried, now digging her hand down Levy's dress to fish out the torture device.

"Cold!" Wendy added, helping Lisanna pulled out her cube.

"A bit excessive isn't it?" Levy asked, doing the same thing for Lisanna, I'm honestly impressed that they coordinated to rid themselves of the problem so quickly.

"But it wouldn't be as fun would it?" I smiled and made another set of cubes. "Would you like another one?"

"""No!"""

"Well then, I suppose we'll move to some discussion." The three sat down and closed in. "The first thing I want to go over is whether or not you all have a change of darker clothes." I motioned to the bright, flowery colours on Levy's dress; Wendy's green one-piece with sandals weren't useful at all for the coming job. Lisanna was better with shorts and a pearl white jumper, it didn't get in the way should something happen, like a skirt hem getting caught. "Something like mine?" I was wearing skin tight trousers but made of flexible clothing along with a black jacket.

"Sorry, we didn't bring anything."

I should have told them beforehand. "Well, it's not necessary, just be a bit more careful. Anyway, Wendy will take the lead when we first infiltrate, I will follow closely behind her, and you two will pay attention to our rear."

"M—me? Why?" Wendy lashed her hair back and forth as she looked at her friends for support.

"You're a Dragon Slayer." I simply said.

"Then there's Nat—"

"Aren't you already good enough?"

"Huh?"

"You're gifted with great hearing, a wonderful sense of smell, you can easily tell when someone is coming and guide us away from harm. For the first half, we're to avoid combat as much as possible. So, it won't be a lie to say that you are the most valuable member on this team."

"I can't have such an important job like that! What if I fail?" Wendy buried her head in her hands.

"You look up to Natsu don't you?"

"How did you know?"

"It's easy to find someone like you." I smiled. "While it might be great to have his bravery, quick thinking, strength and tenacity, you can't learn any of that unless you actively try to. Running away won't help. Lots of things are holding you back." I held her trembling hand, "This is one of them."

"I'll try my best…"

"Don't worry, there's a reason why I'm sticking close to you, with my experience and your keen sense, we can't fail."

"Okay." Wendy returned a small smile; we're back to our meeting.

"For Levy, I want you to focus on attacking wizards hiding behind their frontline, if there are any. I and Lisanna will of course take down as many people as possible, however, I want to make sure that no one gets past us. Wendy, you'll first start by casting support magic on us, after that, you'll have to read the situation, if someone is hurt, prioritise healing above anything, attack when you see a good chance.

"Remember this is the formation we'll go into once we secured the lacrima storage room. I have no doubt that there'll be guards stationed in the room itself. To clear out the rift-raft, we'll change things slightly. Normally, me and Lisanna will be in the front as always. However, Wendy," I turned to her, "you'll be at the back, on the lookout for reinforcements, once you spot enemies, hold them off as long as possible. Lisanna will join you once you ask for it."

"But then you'll be alone." Lisanna pointed out.

"I'm more than capable of defending myself. Which leads to Levy. I'm sorry but, you'll potentially have the busiest role; which is to keep track of both front and back ends of our formation."

"Leave it to me!"

"That'll be all for now, remember, we only have until dawn to finish this, if the officials take action, it'll be harder for us to leave." They nodded. "Then, everyone can just relax until we arrive." I could teach them other skills, walking while making little noise, good habits to have when invading a base…sadly, I don't have the time. And cramming too much knowledge will introduce them to elements that they aren't used to. I opened my book again, about to take out my bookmark when Levy sat next to me, peering into the contents.

"That's the book that ties a person's mental state to magic output, right?"

"I'm surprised you know of this book, it's quite old."

"Of course, I do!" Levy held an air of excitement I've never seen before from her. "It's one most influential books on magical study. And, judging from the worn-out state it's in, you've been reading this a lot huh?"

"I have. Maybe, if I have read this book earlier, my life would have gone differently. I might have joined a normal guild. But that's enough about me, what other books have you read?"

"Well, I have an even balance of fiction and non-fiction, there's nothing like winding down after a long job by getting lost in another world. Then there's the thrill of learning something new or taking away a life lesson from an important person."

"Levy reads too much," Lisanna added, "it's hard to find books to gift her because I have no idea which ones she's read already."

"Then you could give me something that isn't a book, I'm fine with anything."

"You say that but, the look you have when you tear open wrapping to find a new book you haven't seen before is so cute!" In a flash, all the tension from our little meeting was gone, taken over with gossip, friendly banter and the occasional girls talk.

"Oh…" Wendy muttered, shifting her head from side to side, her nose twitched a bit.

"What's wrong?" Levy asked.

"No, nothing, I was just spacing out."

"Anyway, Levy," Lisanna said, "why have you gone on duo jobs with Gajeel more often? If you keep this up, even he will notice."

"I can't help it!" Cried Levy. "He's so fun to be around."

"Then when are you going to make a move?"

"S—soon."

What a lively bunch.

* * *

Jellal's calculations were spot on, his reward was a rich gold colour to Westpine, a place that, a first glance was a lovely place to live. Though much smaller than Magnolia, that's not saying much by comparing a town to a city. Like Magnolia however, one of the biggest buildings is a guild building, from leaving the train station, just by following a stone path to the right, a two-story building proudly bearing a horse silhouette with 'Dawning Horses', a guild I've never heard of, which doesn't surprise me, I haven't even heard of Westpine until this entire mess was thrown to my face. As I mentioned, the roads were stone, uneven ones that didn't see much work put into them.

There were three paths for us to take, ahead, left and right, each road being flanked with houses of varying quality, all of which, had a fair amount of people walking through it, not at the level of like Magnolia or the Capital, but spaced out enough to allow for anyone to run along without needing to slow down.

"Alright," Jellal declared, "we'll keep along with our three groups to explore the town, once it's almost time, just gather in front of that guild building. Have fun." He finished with a smile. As cautious as ever—though his acting could be better, coming up with being tourists, either showing his paranoia, or that his train ride was really boring, I can make a case for both.

"You heard him." I said, "we'll go to the left, I see some interesting shops down that street." Jellal nodded.

"Then we'll go down the middle, I want to see that cathedral up close." Meredy said.

"Now then," I looked to my team as I guided them towards a bar, "let's start there, you never know if some idiot will help you."

"This is getting exciting." Lisanna said.

"Is it? Well, I supposed I'm already used to it, so this is another day for me."

The inside of the bar wasn't anything new or revolutionary, dented wooden boards, sturdy chairs set up in a line facing a bartender. Near the walls, tables were set in groups of four. Some things never change no matter where you go, people still polish the floor with their drool, a strong scent of alcohol still filled the room.

I grouped the four of us together by wrapping my arms around them and whispered, "Has anyone of you tried to extract intel here before?" They all shook their heads. "Then there's two ways to do it. You can talk to the bartender, they generally have good connections and they might have heard some interesting things from drunks. Or, you can go straight to the source."

"What do you mean?" Lisanna asked.

"There's no denying that you're all cute girls, and guys tend to brag about stupid things while a girl is around, especially if they're good looking, so you can pick information that way, if they're drunk, it's a bit of a mixed bag. Though they can be a bit loose-lipped, the stuff they say can be all over the place. While you girls decide what to do, I'm starting first okay?" I tied my hair into a ponytail and walked to the nearest group of heavy drinkers—three of them—next to the wall.

"I'm going to go out for a bit." Wendy declared.

"Be careful."

As I got closer, their conversation became clearer:

"Shit man!" A balding man slammed his mug on the table. "Shit's so expensive lately yeah? I'm gonna be fucking broke if this shit keeps rising."

"Ya got it," another agreed, he was a bit younger, having thick black hair and rough face, "everything was fine a few months ago, now my wife is bitching about how we got no money, the fuck am I supposed to do about magic items being so damn expensive!?" This could be interesting.

"Umm…" I called out the group, putting on an innocent face, "sorry to interrupt." That got their attention. "I'm planning to move here soon, and I just heard what you said…I'm going to be in trouble if what you said in true."

"Huh? You picked a bad time missy." The second man said, keeping a firm eye to my chest. "Tell you what, buy us another round of drinks and we'll teach you how to live here."

"Really?"

"Of course! Sit down already." He grabbed me by the waist and pulled me in an empty seat next to him. "Give us another round!" He cried, his hand never leaving my side—in fact, he pressed harder. There are times—like this one—when I'm glad that I gotten used to dealing with stuff like this, or another man would be joining the floor with a massive bruise he has to explain to his wife the next day.

"Are you sure you should be drinking so much?"

"Don't worry about it!" A man with grey hair replied. "Where are you planning to stay?"

"Well, I've been talking with my friend, so far, I planning to move near the guild."

"The guild? So, you're a wizard?"

I dipped down my head, "Umm…yes."

"Haha! I see! That's why you're worried about the magic items." The drinks arrived; the man slid a mug to me. "Drink up! It'll be a long night."

I drank a bit of the bitter stuff, "So what happened to the magic items?"

"You see," the man took a massive swig, "a few months back, some people were buying lacrimas and magic items with lacrima by the buckets. It wasn't that big of a deal, the store had storage for it. We thought things would return to normal after those bastards ran out of money. But shit never stopped. Now the remaining stuff is so bloody expensive."

"Who are these people?"

The first man grinned and interrupted, "Now, now, you get one question, we get one. What's your name?"

"Skye."

"Beautiful name."

"T—thank you…can you tell me who these people are?"

"Dunno, they just parked shop on the back of the town, mother fuckers should just leave." He took a big drink. "Now then, are you free for the night?"

"I'm planning to see my friends after this, I came here to find her but, I don't see her here."

"We'll keep you company until then, how about that?"

"No thanks, I'll just find her house." I left some money and turned to leave. The grip on my waist strengthened.

"Come on, we're just trying to show you a good time." And this is why I hate dealing with drunk people.

"Please let go, my friend is waiting." I pried his fingers away. However, the two extra men blocked my retreat. In the interest of not causing too much trouble, I jumped on the table, used it as a platform to jump past the men. Once I did that, I broke into full-on sprint out the door, ignoring my teammate's stares. In hindsight, I shouldn't go for drunk men as my first target, seeing how I got what I wanted, I'm not complaining.

* * *

I was waiting outside Dawning Horses for everyone to come back; I was waiting for a while, the night was almost here; the sky was now a light purple that turned pink, then to orange the closer it got to the horizon. In the meantime, I had to: ensure the guild that I had no interest in joining them; helped an old lady pick up some groceries; tell everyone that I'm not an easy pickup target; ask around where exactly the back of the town is. And then finally, after watching a little skirmish across the street, my team came back and not long after, came Meredy's group, finally Jellal's.

"I assume, with the amount of time everyone's been gone, you all know where their base is?"

"We do," Erza replied, "Now we just need to wait until night." Jellal pulled out a piece of paper from his coat.

"This is?"

"A rough sketch at what the building looks like, we had extra time to investigate, I took some time to get this." We found an alleyway to hide in while Jellal unfolded the paper, showing a crude, but clear outline of the building, it had two stories, each tier being the size of a warehouse, a large one at that. The only reason why we couldn't see the thing was _because_ it was hiding behind the houses. "From this, Meredy and I will go through the front, once we cause a big enough distraction, the enemy will know that I am the bigger threat and focus on me. Then Meredy slip past the guard and find the leader. At the same time, Ultear will lead her team to invade from the top.

"The top floor is most likely used for accommodation, so be careful and not to get caught. I suspect that they have a basement to store all the lacrima they have been transporting. Meredy, once you're done with the leader, come back to finish off the rest. If we round up everyone first, we'll come assist you." With a plan in mind, we headed for the base, and waited.

I've always found night the most comforting, perhaps it was because my homeland sees less sunlight than most. Nevertheless, I feel like I can do anything while wrapped in night. Nothing can beat a good night wind swimming past your hair, it's refreshing. And it was in this tranquil time where me and my team were scaling the walls of a building. Naturally, it's impossible to grip onto the mortar lines and climb a two-story building, especially when we're avoiding windows. So I made platforms jutting out for smooth scaling.

Still climbing with a backpack strapped to my back, Jellal and the others are just waiting for my signal: reflexing moonlight with my ice. Once they see it, chaos will ensue. I was the first one to get up on top, I then helped Wendy up and left the other two to climb by themselves.

"Wendy, where do you hear noise?" I was planning to have Wendy find us the quietest place below—not a perfect indicator of vacancy but, we don't have the interior floor plans.

"Please wait." The Dragon Slayer closed her eyes and pressed her head against the floor. She grimaced slightly before moving onto the next spot, repeating the same action until she smiled. "Right here."

"Perfect." I made a small ice crystal the size of my palm; after a bit a fiddling, I managed to make a small beam of light shine down where Jellal was hiding. In the next instant, a flash brighter than the sun blasted the streets, an explosion followed. Footsteps drummed in waves, the top was no exception. Finally, a rainbow of magic circles. "Wendy, is everything still clear?"

"Yes."

"Get ready." I sped up time in a radius big enough for someone like me to easily slip through. Cracks formed before turning to dust, leaving behind a generous hole. Without a second passing, I jumped down.

Just a bedroom—a small one at that, the bed itself took most of the space. From the lack of bedsheets, furniture, I gave my team the signal to drop down. "Wendy, please check." I ordered. She did as told, listening for any dangerous sounds.

"There's snoring in the room next to us," she pointed at a wall to our right, "and there's more out the door, just ahead of us."

"We'll take care of the one on the right first, the final one will tell us everything we need." I sped up time again, creating a door-sized opening on the wall. As Wendy reported, a man was just snoring away, somehow getting through all the noise. I restrained the man with magic sealing rope. "Just in case." A cage of thorns wrapped around the bed. "Let's move on." Wendy opened the door leading to a carpeted hallway. Thankfully, the hallway itself was well-lit so we didn't have to so any awkward groping. I opened the door where Wendy told me to go. The man sleeping was the very definition of a bad wizard, he's scrawny, so thin to the point where I would have no trouble breaking his bones. His only use is being a good backline, or else someone would have kicked him out already. Perfect target for sneak attacks. I restrained him like I did with his friend fastening rope around him. Next I froze his entire body but his head.

A pair of brown eyes fluttered opened, before he could process anything, I clasped my hand above his mouth; I hovered an ice dagger above his eye, brushing away stray strands of black hair.

"If you scream, I'll drive this right in your throat." Typically, for physically weak people, they're prone to being scared easily, that either stems from bullying during childhood, or being the yes-man too often. The man frantically nodded his head.

"I—I won't."

"Good." I glided the dagger down his cheek, rubbing it up and down, letting him feel the chilling feeling of having a sharp edge scrape across flesh. "You seem pretty smart, you probably know what we're here for, so I'll cut to the chase, where do you keep the lacrima?" It's been a while but, I think I can still pull some decent acting.

"I—I…don't know."

"Bullshit." I dug the edge deeper, stopping before I broke skin. "I'm really close to leaving you a scar for life you know, one slip of my hand is all it'll take. And that can come from all kinds of sources." I leaned forward, getting a good look at his twitching eyeballs, putting on my best crazed-woman look, contorting my lips to a sick, twisted smile; eyes wide and cruel as nature, lacking in any sort of compassion. "Say perhaps: you being stubborn. Another answer like that might juuuust be enough for piss me off. Why don't you tell me what would happen then?"

"I'm not telling a crazy bitch like you."

I caressed his right cheek slowly, "That wasn't so hard now was it? You _do_ have what I want." He gasped, knowing of his mistake.

"F—fuck you!" I drew a strong cut along his left cheek. Before he could scream, I block it with ice.

"While I would looove to hear you sing, I don't have time." I got rid of the ice surrounding his body and straddled him. "Where would you like to have a makeover?" I licked the blood off my dagger, threw it away and made a new one. "How about here?" I move the tip to his hands. "Or here?" His chest. "I know!" I sang. I moved the tip above his eye. "I've been getting into an eyeball collection lately, yours would be the best addition so far. If you don't want that, you better tell me where the lacrima is." He started to wiggle around, trying to shake off the rope, but I pressed my free hand against his forehead, "I wouldn't move around like that," the dagger was just above his pupil, "who knows what will happen?" I whispered in his ear.

"You're a freak! Do your worse, you won't kill me anyway!"

"Now why would I kill you?"

"That's right, you can't get the infor—"

"Who said anything about that?" I grinned. "Killing you would mean I can't hear you scream. Ahhh…" I moaned, shuddering both as an act but at my own disgusting display, "singing from pain is just exquisite, orgasmic…" I finished with a sigh, "what would it sound like? I can hear it now!" I hugged my own body as part of the performance, rubbing my chest slightly with my fingers. "As a reward for showing me a good time, I'll give you something worse than death. For a man like you anyway. Aren't you happy? I did it juuust for you."

"W—what do you mean?"

"Did you know?" I drew circles around his wrist with my dagger. "If you cut the right part of the body, you can cut the magic flow of that part." He started squirming around again—much more chaotic movements, I chained his legs and head down. "That's it! That's the look!" I reached for his left eye. "Let's preserve that."

"You think that'll work? There's no way you can—" I jammed the blade into his wrist, covering his mouth in the same moment.

"Then why were you so worked up?" Rubbing his cheeks, I continued, "You believe what I'm saying, don't you?" My smile deepened. "Go on, try to cast a spell from your right hand!" Sweat formed from his forehead—then his face lost all colour. "Can't do it? Don't worry sweetie," I removed the blade, "I didn't do permanent damage, it'll heal in a few days. I can change all that just at the flick of a wrist however.

"I've made lots and lots of experiments in the past, so many bodies." I giggled slightly. "And I did it! There's a fellow walking around Fiore right now, who was once a wizard, now he's nothing more than a worthless sack of meat!" At the word worthless, he shook, tears started streaming. "Aha! Scared? Let me take a guess, magic is the only thing people value from you, not you as a person, they don't see you as a one, only the thing you can do—just a tool. Now think with me, what would happen, if even that was robbed from you?" I started to speak faster and faster—breathing harder, trying to emulate excitement or arousal. "You'll be cast out, yes? You'll be alone, yes? You'll become nothing, yes!? Will your family even take you back I wonder!? This worthless son of theirs. Perhaps, more than anything else—"

"Please don't…" He whimpered.

"You'll…"

"No!"

"Be…"

"Please stop!"

I whispered into his ear, "Use-less." I silenced him once more, I couldn't however, shut off his tears, they were flowing endlessly like a river. "Feel like talking now?" He nodded. "That's a good boy." I stroked his cheeks again, dropping the weapon and cupped his face. "It wasn't that hard, was it?" He shook his head. I finally broke him; I got rid of the ice.

"Basement." He said in a monotone voice.

"Hmm?"

"It's in the basement, they're all in there." Just like Jellal predicted.

"And how will we get there?"

"It's just down the stairs, go to the very bottom. Am I free? You won't take away my magic?"

"Of course not silly, you're a good boy," without him noticing, I summoned my orb, maintaining a good distance from his head, "and good boys needs to be rewarded." I accelerated my orb downwards, knocking the man out cold. "Sweet dreams." Quickly getting off the bed, I fixed my hair. "Well, that was revolting, let's go." I faced my team again—they were all cowering behind one form of furniture or another, with Levy hugging Wendy. "Come on, that was just all an act."

"R—really?" Lisanna asked.

"Yes, I hated every second of doing it." They relaxed somewhat.

"Then how come that seemed so real?"

"Practise and actually capturing someone like that, you have no idea how much information you can pull as a crazy woman."

"Can you really shut someone's magic off?" Levy asked.

"Of course not, that was just a bluff. There are some things that can shut off magic from the texts but, cutting the body isn't a permanent way."

"But…that man couldn't cast a spell."

"His mind state was so shaken that he didn't consider that the ropes I tied him up with were the ones that blocked his magic; at that point, I could say I stabbed a special point in the body that would kill him in two days and he'll still believe it. Come on, we're wasting time, we already used too much from interrogating this guy. Wendy, we're relying on you."

"I got it." The girl scrambled to her feet and led the way.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! This is the first time, where I considered giving this story a m rating, just from this chapter alone. While I don't believe I've written anything of the sort, it was a pretty thin line that I could cross pretty dang easily.**

 **Funny how I said I wanted a more lighthearted story in the last chapter, and I went the total opposite way, I do still want to do that but, that will have to wait. At this point, I feel like I'm leaning on Ultear's seven year experience dealing with dark guild plus the shady stuff she used to do as a crutch. You know, she seems like a woman of many talents, and my only excuse for it is, she's done lots of this stuff before. Kind of a convenient plot device if you ask me. I'll try to tone it down later on, unless you all have no problems with it.**

 **I don't think I did a good job in expressing the man's fear, I don't know about you, being threatened by a psycho woman wasn't portrayed well enough. And I couldn't find a better way without it seeming so jarring. Regardless, I had so much fun writing that semi-torture scene, might say something about my personality, I don't know.**

 **Now I got to say, I don't really have an idea on how the magic works inside a wizard's body. I don't know if it was ever explained, and again, I'm too much of a lazy bastard to find out. So I took inspiration from Naruto's Chakra lines and the human nerves system, hence the wrist stabbing.**

 **I would have kept writing, if it wasn't for the fact this chapter is almost 5k words, anything above 5k is a proofreading nightmare in my opinion. So if you found some mistakes, sorry about that. Until then, I hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!**


	14. Chapter 14: Rejection and Acceptance

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

We headed down the stairs slowly, assuming the formation that I suggested before. Wendy's nose twitched every now and then, turning her head to a sound I can't hear. The stairs itself was narrow, only allowing one person to pass at a time. The ground floor was much louder both for the eyes and the ears, just in the distance, I could see the on-going battle at the front door, cries from both sides rung throughout the halls. Unlike the top floor, there was no garnish, just functionality. Concrete floors, plain wood doors, this place possibility would win an award for the blandest place in town, after tonight, that honour would exchange hands.

"It's safe to go down." Wendy commented, pointing down a set of metal stairs.

"Good work," I replied, "I still want everyone to be careful." With Wendy leading, it was honestly strange, I wasn't used to seeing someone's back during these types of missions, I was always by myself. There were occasional times when all three of us are together however, aside from invading dangerous places, it's too inefficient, so it's been a while since I was in a group like this, it's just as nice as I remembered it to be, I didn't have to be so high strung, there're people watching my back.

At the bottom of the stairs, was a long corridor that stretched far out to the back. Countless doors branched out from the corridor. From entering, I could feel a slight heaviness in the air, that's further proof for the lacrima's being stored here. The biggest source of magic however, was a group of men—ten in total—staring daggers at us, weapons ready. They were positioned in two rows—three rows if you consider the person ahead of all the other; four on the back, five in the middle.

"Looks like someone here is competent." I said, getting my orb out.

"Ultear Milkovich." the man in the middle said; for some reason, he was only looking at me. He was average in height; his spikey black hair and muscular body led me to believe that me was just a meathead, however, sharp green eyes said otherwise. In the next moment, I was in a purple, transparent room. Everything else beyond the walls was just a black void. "Don't worry, we're just in a different space, one that I created. We'll return soon."

"So you just want to talk? How strange, I am invading your base, a normal procedure is to attack right?"

"Are you just trying to lie to yourself?" He started prying right away of course, not that I was thinking he would produce a tea set and a table for us to exchange our daily gripes.

"What ever could you mean?"

"Have you given up on your original goals?" I don't recall many people knowing about my plans, I turned to force the answer out of him, trying to intimidate him with magic pressure. "Relax, it's just a guess. But seeing how you got so defensive, I _am_ right about time travel." I really am getting rusty. "Most of us learned our magic because we're influenced by something; an event, a person, a place. You and I are no exception. I simply asked the question: why would someone learn time magic? Everything else stems from there."

"I assume you're the that rounded up some members and rushed to the basement once you were attacked?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think a man like you would join a group collecting lacrimas just so you can create public distress, you're after something much different."

"Why would you say that?"

"People that wants to cause chaos aren't as civilised as you, they would much rather punch than talk, they tend to hold power yet fail to temper it. Perhaps this whole blowing up guilds things is just an excuse to gather manpower, you'll do it of course, at the same time you'll prove to your men that you're worthy to be a leader, once that happens, only small few will leave you, the rest will follow you anywhere." The man just smiled and gave me a clap, not a condescending kind, just one that held appreciation. While I'm correct, I'm not sure how much of it was right. If I'm spot on, then maybe this person is the leader.

"As I mentioned, our choices in magic is rarely determined by ourselves. In my case, mine came from wanting isolation. I was an illegitimate child in a family of influential people. I was shunned, treated like trash. Hiding in here gave me solace" his arms fanned out, "I didn't have to hear or see what my father did to rise in power."

"You're telling me all this is just a revenge act?"

"At first, my plans were that petty. Then it occurred to me one day that I shouldn't just get rid of my father, but every other corrupt bastard in this kingdom." He kept a strong eye on me, his fists trembling, tightening as they turn white. "It won't be enough however, the damage they did is all done. To stop this, I need to cut the problem at the roots." This person…all this mess was just to lure me out.

"Aren't you a real piece of work? If you wanted to see me that, just send a bouquet at my doorstep and invite me out for dinner, was there a need to go this far?"

"You noticed? Well that just makes things easier. With you helping me, I can erase the mistakes of the past and set this kingdom in the right direction."

"Do you really think your plan would work that smoothly?"

"Why do you think I was gathering lacrima? With all of it charged, we have more than enough power to time travel. Its not a bad offer, we both get what we want."

Seeing my mother smile while I was in her arms, is something I saw so many times in dreams. And it doesn't end there. My life is reset. I could have a life that isn't stained in sin; I could walk in broad daylight without fear of being put behind bars; I could join a normal guild. Chat with friends about stupid topics, getting into fights, all of it. I could possibly join Fairy Tail, be a part of their bombastic family. Friends with Natsu, Erza…

More importantly would be that Meredy wouldn't have to be dragged in the mud by me, she could finally get the life a sweet girl like her deserves. Even if I can't go back now, not even with his help. However, the resources he has might be enough for me to devise a real method to go back.

"It is an attractive offer however," I shot out a wave of thorns, "I've already moved on, I'm perfectly content with the life I have now."

My ice suddenly disappeared, "Then I'll have to break your spirit and force you to help me!" Soon after, I was alone, he just vanished, not in the sense that he hid himself, I can't feel anyone aside from myself. In a split second, I felt something behind me, I jumped back and sent my orb after the thing behind me. Though my orb just swam through air, I managed to catch a glimpse of a boot fading away. He's somehow jumping in and out of this world.

"You should have figured it out by now," a right kick got me in the waist, "you can't win against me."

"You're really bothersome." I got back to my feet, then instantly encasing myself in a thorn cage. "That doesn't mean I can't hurt you." I release the ice, stepped over a puddle of blood and prepared my orb again.

"Reactionary fights doesn't seem to be your style." His voice echoed.

"It's not," I reached behind me, grabbed on a foot and swung him over my shoulder, "I just have to adapt." Before the man decked the ground, he faded away again. "A spell this convenient must have a high maintenance cost, we'll see if you can take me down first before that happens." I traded blows with him, ducking underneath kicks, warding off punches, occasionally getting slammed to the ground. For whatever reason, he doesn't have any other magic, which might be because his magic takes too much time to master to learn other skills.

Nothing I've done did any major damage to him, his vigour hasn't dropped a bit since our fight started, I gave him a few more cuts, but nothing debilitating. While I didn't do much damage, I certainly learned a few things. He can send my ice attacks to who knows where but, he couldn't vanish more than three objects at a time, which should translate to conjuring three objects at a time. His magic is difficult to maintain, his attacks were getting desperate, growing more aggressive and beast-like. Lastly and most crucial is that his world functions the same as my original one, the gravity is the same, atmosphere and so on.

I went to block another kick from my right, only to feel something enter my left arm. I instantly surrounded myself with an ice cage to check the damage. A small knife was half embedded into my bicep, blood wasn't dripping from my finger tips but flowing out. I gritted my teeth and yanked the blade out, tossing it in the air, reducing it to dust before he could recycle it. To stop the blood flow, I just did the same thing Gray did against me when I found him, freezing the wound to deal with later, the stinging pain didn't stop, it screamed at me to end the fight soon.

He followed up with an axe kick; I jumped back. He went for another punch; I walled him off. A thrust from behind; I kicked away his knife. A few more bouts had me struggling to catch my breath, I wasn't able to plan ahead and chain attacks. The worst thing is that I don't have as much stamina as him. So I did an experiment. At his next punch, I gripped it with my hand and froze our two limbs together before he could run away. Purple traded away for a deep crimson, I wasn't in a barren room, but one filled with weapons and rations.

"Found you." I sang, adding a smile. I thought he was jumping between the original world and the purple one, this was a wrong but welcome truth. I can't undo my ice however, I'm sure once I do, he'll just transport me back.

"This doesn't help you at all." I blocked another punch.

"But it does." I focused my magic on everything around me, within a second, all of his tools became useless, devolving into a pile of dust. "The fact I manage to do the same with your knife from before told me lots." Seeing that he can't just run without taking me with him. I multiplied my orbs, accelerated them to a crash course against his joints. We were back in the purple room; this time, I filled the room with thorns on the ground accompanied by spikes on the ceiling. While doing this with one hand isn't the best, he has no way of knowing. "Now what?" I anchored my legs so he couldn't grapple me. "You were jumping around back and forth all the time, I couldn't really do this." I started to extend the ice on his arm to his shoulders, creeping it slowly to his neck. In a final attempt, a chop came down at our connection point. Once I tangled his other arm, we were back, not in his red room, rather the world we came from.

Lisanna and the rest were doing fine seeing how they were outnumbered, they took out two people in my absence. While it was great that I didn't have to deal with his annoying magic, I had been transported behind enemy lines.

"Fire at the woman!" Their boss yelled. Everyone that were focused on Lisanna and Wendy, turned their aim to me. My team were still in a daze unlike his men. In fact, their change in targets was almost second-nature to them. "Your team is next." I was about break our bonds to focus on freezing his entire group—the ceiling above them collapsed.

"Where's the boss!" Someone cried from above. I didn't need to look up to know that is, only one voice could give me such a sudden headache. How did Natsu know we're here? Did Erza tell him? Was he stalking one of us? Regardless of the pain he brought me, the ones that were trying to fire at me were now buried in a pile of rubble, struggling to get out. Using Natsu's distraction, I went towards freezing the man I was stuck to, leaving his torso and head exposed. Likewise, my team also took advantage of the intruders, taking out the remaining henchmen.

"Natsu, while I would like to have a few words with you, Lisanna, can you grab some of the rope in my bag?"

"Are you sure? You're practically frozen." Lisanna returned.

"If I don't anchor myself, he'll just run away again, that's why I'm tethering him to the ground, he doesn't have enough power to teleport the entire floor. I've learned quite a few things, it seems that his magic considers anything tied to him to be one unit," I explained, "so hurry up, while I can handle the cold, I'm not like Gray, I haven't gone under the same amount of resistant training like he did."

"I got it."

"Wendy, do you have enough remaining magic to heal me?"

"Huh?" Wendy looked up from tending to Levy's wounds. "Of course! Leave it to me."

"Then once you're done, come take care of my left arm. Levy, make sure no more reinforcements is coming. Natsu," I sighed, "go make yourself useful and help Levy out."

"Why me?" He pouted. He did it anyway.

I shifted attention back to the half-frozen man, "You were one of the more annoying people I had to fight in a while."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" The man asked.

"Not really."

"If we helped each other, we could have changed the world."

"You wouldn't have needed my help if you went down a different path." Lisanna came back with the bundle of rope I requested. "Just tie it around his torso." Once his abilities were sealed, I slowly revealed more of his body be restricted until, we captured him. Around that time, Wendy just started to work on my stab wound, her magic was gentle, a soothing warmth began from my left arm to the rest of my body, like a campfire. "Thank you." I got up immediately to help with capturing the criminals. "Natsu," I called out, "care to tell me why you're here?"

"I followed you guys." He shrugged.

"That should be impossible, Wendy would have—" I glared at the girl that allowed this all to happen.

"S—sorry," Wendy cried, "I thought it would be fine to have Natsu help us."

"He did." That brought a grin to his face. "How-ev-er, look up." I pointed to a massive gaping hole that linked the ground floor and the basement in a way architects didn't plan for. "What would have happened _if_ he landed on a pile lacrima? We didn't know if they were charged or not, having all that power released like that would have killed us all." I could have reversed the damage of course, that's only assuming I can react in time. Had I still been trapped in that room, there wouldn't be a chance in the first place.

"I didn't mean to…" This lecture was only hurting Wendy's confidence, the opposite of what I wanted to do in this trip. So I sighed, repaired the damage Natsu had done and gave Wendy a small smile.

"It's too late to grumble about it now, don't worry about it. Just be more careful next time." She nodded back with vigour. "But still, when did you notice Natsu?"

"Back on the train after I woke up. I was too tired before to pick up on his scent. And when we were in the bar, I decided to ask Natsu why he was following us."

"And his response was…"

"He found out that Erza was leaving again, so he thought that she was having fun without her team. So he followed us to vent out on her."

"Is there anything meaningful that goes on inside your head?" I turned to Natsu, who was cleaning his ears while leaning against a wall.

"Hey!" In response to his glare, I returned a smile.

"But you were a great help, thank you."

A pause later, his lips curled upwards, "Glad to help!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **Not really a great climax to this arc. I really wanted to do better, the fight scene was pretty balls, but I can't seem to make it work. For the amount of build up I put into this arc, it feels unsatisfying, from my perspective anyway, and that fight has already gone under a re-write, my previous one was so bland, I was two paragraphs in before I deleted the entire thing. Sorry about not doing a good enough job. But here's the thing, I'm so used to writing stories that were short and don't have build-ups like this one, I don't know how to deliver a good climax. I'll work on it.**

 **Perhaps I should just write fics in a franchise that doesn't have a lot of action, it feels like such a cop out though...**

 **I'm pretty sure all of you saw that Natsu was going to come crashing in, regardless, after the next chapter, I can start to write more lighthearted stuff.**

 **Until then, I hope you all enjoyed, have a nice day!**


	15. Chapter 15: Unexpected Trouble

**Disclaimer** **: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

With every enemy rounded up and stripped of all chances of making a surprise attack, I had Natsu drag most of the men while we managed the rest—much to his protests.

"Why am I doing all of the work?" He groaned, dragging a thick rope with him.

"Are you trying to make a bunch of delicate girls haul that many people?" I replied. We didn't leave Natsu have all the grunt work of course, each one of us were carrying at least one person with us, Natsu had the most of four men being dragged around on a piece of rope. I had to take care of two myself.

"Like I would believe that."

"It doesn't matter now, does it? You're already doing the work, and we're almost there." I jerked my head forward, towards the huge pile—mountain—of unconscious people. Guarding the pile, was Jellal and Meredy's team. My daughter in particular, was frowning, rolling around something with her feet. She met my eyes, showing her slightly glassy ones.

"Ul, I'm sorry for letting you have the extra burden."

"You found out?" She nodded slowly.

"Nothing we can do about it now, planning so far ahead can only do so much, you should know that nothing will ever go as planned."

"But still…"

"I don't want to hear about it, we don't have that kind of time." I want to brush away the conversation and continue with the unfinished work, namely, dealing with the mountain and fixing the things we've destroyed.

Everything settled, damage fixed, and our work done, it was around four in the morning; We were all tired. After we handed off the men to our agents, we dragged ourselves back to the train station and waited for the first train to Magnolia, by that point, it was looking to be at least two hours of sitting, killing time for the first train back.

* * *

If there's something I would like to see changed in the trains of this kingdom, is to have better soundproofing, or at least have an option to cram all the loud sleepers into one compartment. If they can't wake themselves up with their own obnoxious, rhythmic, roars that spawns from the inner depths of an insomniac's worse nightmare, perhaps cries from other bombastic people will. Surely, having a collection of sound explosions would harmonies, amplifying itself further until the sound got so unbearable, that engineers are forced to redesign train compartments to have better sound deafening features.

I was seated with Jellal and Meredy, we decided that Fairy Tail should have rooms to themselves, after all, fellow guildmates would hold conversations much better than outsiders. It was about half an hour in our ride back when I heard loud whine that came from the throat, blocked by a veil of phlegm or snot. Judging from the tone, it was a male voice, considering that the sound was coming right behind us, it was Natsu. That was only the start of my woes.

I couldn't read halfway through a sentence before his snoring broke my concentration; sleep was impossible either, by the fact that my body refuses to. All that's left is to comb through Meredy's hair as she laid on my lap while envying her ability to sleep. Jellal, like me, isn't so lucky. Jellal closed his book and looked out the window, eyes creasing together while he bit his lips.

"You wouldn't happen to have hidden magic that can deal with this would you?" He asked, holding a sliver of hope. I gently closed my book.

"Maybe instead of asking questions you know that answers to, we can try to take our mind off things."

"Go on."

"How have your talks with Erza been?"

"They've been going decently." I barely caught his tiny eye twitch. At the start, I didn't know where to look for clues, it's only after linking us together thanks to Meredy, did I learn when he's lying and when to look for clues. After that was simply trial and error. He sighed, "She still doesn't listen."

"Not surprising, both of you are looking out for each other, at some point, you're bound to run into problems."

"We did have progress."

"That's a start."

"Before, I couldn't win against her no matter what, I don't know, it's just, I feel some guilt. A huge part of her problems is because of me, I guess that drove me to listen to her."

"At this point, both of you are just going to see each other as a nosy woman and a closed-off man." He groaned, raking his hair. "It's not all bad though, it shows you two still look out for one another."

"I can't drag her in any further."

"Relax…" I shifted my weight, "you said before, what changed?"

"I'm finding flaws in her logic."

"She does seem unreasonable at times."

"You don't even know the half of it." We stared outside as Natsu's snores counted the time that past: ten intervals.

"What's next?" Now that our job is done, we don't have to stay anymore.

"We leave of course."

"I don't think Meredy will enjoy that, I think she's made a friend from Fairy Tail, Juvia I think. Why don't we stay longer?"

"There really isn't a point." Jellal insisted, what a stubborn fool.

"And there isn't a point in moving either, we just moved not too long ago, we're going to leave with wasting our rent. Not to mention, we're going to be in a dry spell for a while."

"We've had dry spells before, and we still had things to do." The dry spell for us just means, the amount of dark guild activity dying down over a length of time. Generally, after a large-scale operation being thwarted like this tends to dissuade others from doing anything. Time is also needed to recover manpower and resources, taking out a big chunk of dark guilds would leave the pool dry for a while. Only idiots would cause havoc without being properly prepared. For small-scale troublemakers, we leave them to legal guilds or our other members when there are no requests, we can't have our members have no experience at all.

"That's only because we were gathering funds, our finances are better than before."

Jellal smirked, "Someone like you is trying to quit work? There's nothing work in making more money."

"True," I rubbed Meredy's cheek, "I can't make her worry more than she is. Also, I don't know if I can focus, I have no idea if things have settled yet." A burning city flashed across my head, pulling along the rancid smell of rotting flesh.

"Nightmares?" I nodded. "All the more reason to keep going." I pointed at Meredy, her serene sleeping face is just so cute.

"She takes priority."

"You spoil her too much." What Jellal says is true, however, I can see it as making up for being the worst mother during Meredy's childhood.

I shrugged and fired back, "Maybe try to raise a child as well, you just can't help it with these things."

"I rather not, seems like a pain."

"If you skip past the diaper changing phase, it's a more manageable."

"I don't think you can say that, you have no experience." I smiled; I might enjoy it in the long-run.

"Your verdict?"

Jellal gave me a wry smile, "You two win for now, I get to pick our next location though."

"Be my guest. During our stay, do you think you can reconcile with Erza?"

"I'll try."

At some point, I ended up falling asleep, I didn't recall when it happened. However, I woke up to our destination; though it was still a bit away, the start of the city was getting bigger by the second. My legs felt numb, shoulders quite stiff. Looking down, I saw the source of the former. Meredy was still pasted out on my lap, hair strands streaking across her nose and cheeks. I rocked her shoulders, no reaction. We didn't have any time to do the slow escalation, so I slid an ice cube down her nap. The reaction was instant, she leaped from my lap and clawed away at the ice.

"This again!?"

"You wouldn't wake up." I shrugged and turned to Jellal, who was also conked out. "Mind waking him up?" I asked, reaching for our bags.

"Suffer with me." Meredy declared, still reaching for her back. The next moment, Meredy's and Jellal's wrist glowed pink. She shrieked just as she got her cube out, I released another one down her spine. "Why!?" Just then, Jellal jolted awake, confused at first, then he tried to claw at something that wasn't there. Seeing that everyone was awake, I dropped the torture act. Meredy sighed while Jellal glared at her.

"We're almost there." I pointed out the window.

"Why do you never try to link Ultear when she's doing that?" Jellal asked.

"I tried," Meredy pouted, "Ul just deals with it without having any reaction."

"I followed mother's training for a reason you know. Now hurry up," I tossed them their bags, "we're arriving." Still riddled with drowsiness, the three of us came out our room. Chatter was still constant, a roaring bonfire, crackling with so much energy, I wonder if our companions ever rested. An announcement later, the train doors opened, and people vomited out. It was strange, for someone that had a major case of motion sickness, I didn't see Natsu in that first wave of passengers. Stepping out on the platform, I got my answer: once strong, vibrant, Natsu was being escorted, one person on each side, like a crippled old man. Wendy in particular, was on her toes, rubbing Natsu's back while trying her best not to trip as they walked forward.

"I'm never getting on transport—" his mouth inflated, "again."

"You've been saying that since forever," Lisanna commented, "you still do it." She laughed.

"This time," Natsu looked backwards with horror, "is for real." A few more seconds, his spirit stormed back, "We're home!"

"Well," I walked up to the group, "we have to drop off our things, thanks for your help."

"No problem, we're always happy to help!"

"We'll see you around." Erza perked at my words; I didn't bother to explain as we went the opposite direction.

"What do you mean by that?" Meredy asked. "I thought we are leaving after we finished business here."

"We had a talk while you were sleeping, we're going to spend our dry spell here."

"I don't mind but, how did you convince him?" Meredy asked, wanting to know whether I was joking or not.

"I didn't mind staying, clearly, you wanted to stay, so I just sided with you. Then there's nothing he could do about it."

"Thanks…but, aren't you spoiling me too much?"

"Even you noticed?"

"I'm not a child anymore."

"In my eyes, you'll always be my cute daughter. Besides, you've always been so serious about everything, I want you to take this time to loosen up."

"I don't want you to be the one telling me that." She does have a point, there are times when it made it hard for me to lecture her, I'm not exactly the best role model in the world.

"I'm trying to do the same, come on." I pulled Meredy's arm. "Let's get back home quickly."

"Where are we going?"

"To have some sweets. We're going ahead, we'll see you later."

"I'll be in the library if you need me." Jellal said. I hurried my pace, I might as well enjoy our stay while it lasts, when was the last time we had a proper break?

After putting away our things, we found ourselves a nice dessert parlour. Though I said that we're taking a break, that doesn't mean we lowered our guard, our disguises were still up, and we used an amount of focus to watch out for anything dangerous.

"What do you want?" I asked Meredy, crossing my legs. The menu they have is simple in design, using smooth white paper with colourful pictures of their products, pencil marks and corrections further showed that this shop is far from classy, instead opting for a home-like feel. And their choice in furniture reflected that, simple wooden chairs and a small round table.

"I want their daily special." Pointing at a fairly large serving of ice-cream, Meredy seems to look forward to devouring her dessert. "I don't think I can finish it by myself so, can we share?"

"If you're fine with it." After giving our orders, I decided to ask a bit about her new friend. "Have you two went shopping together?"

"Who?"

"Juvia."

Meredy smiled, "We're planning to go tommorow."

"I'm glad you have people to talk to with people around your age."

"The way you said that makes you sound old."

"I'm not your mother for no reason." I shrugged.

"But it is nice, I rarely had people to talk to besides you and Mark, even then, he doesn't always have time. I got to know my team really well, Fairy Tail does live up to their liveliness. They invited me to join them too." This could be a chance for me, but I know all too well, she won't accept if I'm still here. She shifted uncomfortably. "What about you? Do you have any plans?"

I thought about it for a while, I didn't really put much thought into convincing Jellal, sure Magnolia is an attractive city to live in, not in the aesthetics sense; you can just about find anything you ever want; it's safe considering that one of the most famous guild in the lands were posted here; the people are friendly. There really isn't much to not like about this city. Above all else, Fairy Tail feels like a place I could turn to when I'm in trouble, perhaps Natsu's mantra is getting to me, it's such a dangerous thing to hear on repeat with a sunny smile, you start to brush them away at first, a few more times, you start to linger on them.

"I guess, for now, I'll work on my nightmares."

"They're still there?" Meredy leaned forward.

"I didn't lose any sleep. I haven't had anything debilitating later, only a few flashes here and there."

"That means you're getting better right? You haven't told me in detail about your dreams." A waitress delivered our food along with two spoons.

"Perfect timing," I handed her a spoon, "something won't make this discussion as depressing."

"There's something off about hearing your nightmares while something this colourful in in front of us." She dug out a small scoop of strawberry ice-cream.

"It's mainly about recounting my past, even the dreams that isn't a nightmare are related to them." I spooned in some ice-cream, letting cold, sweet dessert wet my throat. "For instance, a lot of my dreams recently are about you."

"Why me?"

"Not quite sure, maybe because you are the most important person to me. Not all them are good memories, all of them are from your training days." I popped a strawberry in my mouth. "The nightmares are more elaborate, they come in different types, some torment me about my past, other tells me about my future, what if I fail a mission."

"Is there…anything I can help with?"

"Just remind me to take breaks."

She grinned, "I've been doing that for seven years now. Give me something I'm not doing right now."

"True," I joined in with her laughing, "perhaps even longer. If I think of something, I'll let you know."

* * *

The thought never occurred to me in my entire life; ever since childhood, my life was packed with training, studying, fighting. Then once Hades deemed me ready, it was espionage, manipulating, scheming—my pursuit for power never ended however, further adding lines to my schedule. Now it was information gathering, raiding and redemption. I don't really have a hobby like most people as a result, most of the knowledge and fields everyone would deem as a hobby was something I learned out of necessity, I cook for the sake of convenience; I read to aid in combat. I think…for the first time ever…I'm bored.

Sprawled out on my bed, I was just staring at a ceiling, hoping that maybe, the one imperfection on the painting can take me away to another world filled with something to do. Meredy has left to go shopping with her new friends, and who am I to ruin her day of fun? Jellal was dragged away by Erza, right after I woke up, our door was broken down, and in a flash of silver, Jellal disappeared from our house. I can't do research or anything I consider work, Meredy wants me to rest, avoid it at all cost.

I rolled to face my pillow, something I lost count of doing. It feels so wrong to just be laying here. At the same time, what I'm doing now, is what I'm supposed to do. I could be practising my magic—I should be trying to earn money. Finally, the birds chirping taunted me long enough, I changed to a pair of jeans, white t-shirt and a black jacket before I slammed the front doors shut.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I feel like my writing is getting worse, this is most likely a result of forcing myself to write when I have no drive to, lately, some important stuff came up and I haven't been able to focus.**

 **I know that was pretty lame way to have Ultear and co. stay behind, disregarding that, I can get to some fun stuff, if anyone has suggestions, please give them to me.**

 **I don't have much to say this time, I feel real tired. Sorry for the drop in quality, I hope I can fix it soon.**

 **Until then, have a nice day!**


	16. Chapter 16: Shaping Up

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Now, I'm not a jealous woman, I rarely envy others. In a street of smiles and energy, where everyone around me has a goal or objective; the city was practically glowing. If only it was that easy to be entertained. I was window shopping for the most part, eyeing at jewellery for Meredy and myself; admiring the dresses being displayed proudly—something I hardly get the chance to wear since I stopped gathering information, it was better to wear trousers and boots. I flipped through a couple of books in shops, nothing of interest; lately, bookstores had a sudden influx of business-related books, not much magic-related, so my reading materials has been dwindling.

It was around lunchtime, I was eating a bun as I walked around a block, somehow ending up in a district filled with creative wares, it was a large square filled to the brim with stores selling a plethora of merchandise ranging from pots to drawings; incidentally, it's a place that Natsu hasn't introduced me to, and I can see why, he doesn't seem like the type of person to appreciate fine arts, not like I'm the one to speak. I can admire the level of care and detail put into the crafts, not the hidden meaning behind them. Each bead of sweat formed on the artisans as they worked silently on their craft, it was mainly the concentration behind it that I can understand.

"Yo!" An electric shock sent me tumbling forward a bit. "What are you doing here?" The words delivered were loud and quick, a tone that always seem to stick to me. I turned around to my new playmate. It was Natsu with his hand out in a wave, the same one he slapped me with.

"Natsu," I started slowly, "if you were anyone else, you would be eating dirt, perhaps served with a side of my boot."

"My bad, my bad, I was excited to see you." It's strange how we ended up being each other's go-to for entertainment.

"Why? Your team is finally back up and running, shouldn't you be going on a job we them?"

"We are, Lucy found this cool job on the beach, we're going after a big squid tomorrow."

"Them shouldn't you be preparing?"

"Why should I?" He asked without a condescending smirk or cocky attitude, he's serious. "I always bring the same stuff, so I don't need to pack! I was about to grab some food and I found you."

"How are able to find me with all these people around?"

"I caught your scent duh, it's really easy to pick you out." Natsu finished with a smile.

"Thanks, I guess?" Thinking back, he always identified me by using his nose rather than his eyes. Perhaps the key to seducing dragon-slayer in the days when they were more common was to assault their nose and focus less on the face. Will this information ever be useful? I doubt it.

"So, what are you doing?"

"Enjoying the city I suppose; now that we're back, I don't have much to do." Mimicking a light, Natsu leaned in close with a twinkle in his eyes. I spotted a large gathering of people at the centre of square, it was one of those events with a banner advertising it: 'Discover your art! Try out artisanal crafts!'

"Then, you want to come with me?" He pointed in the direction of the woods. "I'll take you to a great spot."

"Sorry," I pointed at the banner, "I want to see what that is. Also, if we're going out of the city, I'm not enjoying the city."

"I'll come with you!"

"You can if you want," I started making my way to see if there's anything interesting in the event, "I don't think you're going to have a lot of fun."

"Why?"

"Well…" I sighed, "do I have to say? You're not really excited about art, are you?"

"Not really."

"Then I don't think you should follow me." The last thing I want to have him groaning and making a big scene. Though it'll be hilarious for a bit.

"You never know until you try."

I shrugged, "Suit yourself."

The place was pretty crowded; though I'm sure Natsu would think this crowd is pretty tame compared to his guild—at least in terms of loudness. Just beyond the banner and signs advertising the place, a massive yellow tent was set up sheltering groups of tables with varying sizes of people joining. Several workers were sieving potential customers, working their way through the line while we were standing at the side.

"Hello!" A lady wearing a white mini-skirt, topped off by a white, sleeveless jacket with two oranges stripes streaking down the chest. On the right breast, a chisel crossed with a paintbrush told me that was their logo. "Are you two together?"

"We are," I started, "we were just nearby, and we wanted to know what this event is about."

"No problem," the lady brushed away her hazel hair, "we're here to promote creativity in Magnolia by offering beginner courses on various crafts. Each session lasts for around an hour to two hours, depending on what activity you're trying out. After you're done, you can obviously try out more courses. If you find something you do like, we can provide more lessons at a discounted price.

"Of course, if you don't have the time to take lessons, we also sell art supplies and text books we curated to guide you."

"How much do we have to pay to join in?"

She laughed, "You're used to this, huh? It's a thousand Jewels per person, seven-fify for students, five hundred for children below fifteen."

"This is your last chance to back down Natsu." I said, taking out two thousand Jewels.

"No way, bring it on."

I gave away the money, "Just don't complain later."

"Thank you very much," the employee handed off the money to a co-worker, "please go ahead, have fun!" She gestured to the space behind her.

"What do you want to do first?" I asked, all the while looking around for anything that caught my eye, it is pretty hard to glean any information when just about each station is full and therefore, most of the fun stuff is block by a wall of backs.

"Don't care." Natsu replied, resting his hands behind his head. I couldn't resist teasing him here.

"I sighed heavily, "I would appreciate it if you don't waste my money," Natsu caught on, his hands flew off his head, waving frantically as his lips jiggled up and down, "I warned you that you won't have interest in things like this, yet you insisted; are you just toying with me? I'm rich you know." I stared deep in his eyes, releasing a bit of magic to back up my stare.

"That's not what I meant!"

"I know." Meeting his two plates and dropped jaws with a grin, "I was just messing with you."

"Come on! I was—" I placed a finger over his lip.

"We wasted enough time." I pointed to a workshop with a thinning crowd, most likely they just finished their session. I never tried sculpting, nor do I feel like I have enough time to pick up on it, I joined this event to kill time; I might as well get my money's worth.

The station was set up in a ring, roughly twenty desks formed a hoop around a short girl with glasses; over her uniform was an apron, sprinkled with bits of dried clay and some saw dust. If you add in short honey hair, glassy blue eyes to the picture, you would have an adorable girl that most people would kill to protect. Outside the ring, three more colleagues of the girl walked around the desks, cleaning up after the previous participants.

"Come on," dragging Natsu by the arm, we secured two seats before it was too late, "even if you're not interested, you might as well accompany me."

Nodding Natsu picked up some clay, "you like these kinds of things?"

"Not sure, we'll find out."

Once we have a full-house, the glasses girl handed more blocks of clay to her colleagues, "Thank you very much for joining our workshop! I'm Katty; the one wearing a beanie is Molly; the short and cute one is Phoebe; finally, we have Wayne, our resident sleepy-head." A few laughs from the crowd later, "Today, we're here to show you the joy of sculpting. It might be a bit difficult for people who hasn't dabbled in art before; don't worry, we're here to help! So please ask us if you run into any trouble!

"For this workshop, we're going to be working with clay. Before we do anything, I'll start explaining a few things, like what are the tools laid out, how are they used and so on. The clay we're using today is a bit more of a modern type, it's called magic clay. It's easy to use and it doesn't have as many processes as other types of clay, you only need to fire it once and the surface will be nice and shiny.

"Everyone will be using white clay for today, after you're done, feel free to paint over it if you want, you do want to put another layer of protection afterwards. Next, is the tools…"

I never thought someone could lose interest so quickly; Katty wasn't even done with her introduction and Natsu's head was already wandering. I know his attention will come back once we start, I didn't want to repeat what Katty said in a least experienced, silly way—so I elbowed his gut.

Holding his stomach, Natsu whispered, "What was that for?"

"Just bear with it for a while." I whispered back. Thankfully for him, it didn't take long until we're free.

* * *

Contrary to what I originally thought, sculpting was quite easy for me. I choose something simple: a cat in a reclined sleeping position, front paws as a pillow and the tail wrapped around that. Before I knew it, I already had a rough outline while everyone else was still half-way there. Natsu was shaping a cat too, his ever-bouncy partner Happy. I can't tell if this was meant as an insult or a gift however; just the ears were bent backwards in a way that isn't possible.

"You're really good at this!" Natsu commented as he pulled Happy's arm off. "Have you done this before?"

"Never." I picked up a wire tool to peel off excess clay. "I think my magic is helping me out."

"What do you mean?"

I took off a lump of clay along the back, "one of my magic is Ice-make, right?" A nod, "well, one of the keys to using it well is to have a good imagination—to have a clear plan on how your object will turn out. Since I've been using Ice-make for a while now, I have a pretty good idea on how to work the clay. Though my hands need some work." I pointed at my shaking hand as the tool moved across clay.

Rope tying aside, I rarely do anything that needs dexterity. Taking off more material than I meant to is a good sign of that.

I was going to trim the limbs when Natsu slumped forward and whined, "This is hard, it doesn't look like Happy at all." Somehow, in the time that I looked away, Natsu managed to make a monster. "Happy" was a mess, his tail was lumpy, the legs were asymmetrical—the right one being as thick as my wrist while the left was the size of my forearm. The two logs made it seem more like a gorilla than a cat.

"You can still save it." Even if he couldn't, starting over again should be quick, he didn't make any progress so, starting over won't set him back at all.

"Really!?"

"Just take some material off the parts that are too big." I sighed at his passiveness. "Pick up a wire tool."

"This one?"

"That's fine." I stood behind him and held his hands in a way when teaching a child how to write. On the side note, his hands were beautifully warm; working with clay, having to dip my hands in water and touching the cold stuff was quite chilly—and while I can handle cold, I don't' exactly prefer it. So I gripped Natsu's hands tighter.

Leaning forward made my chest press against Natsu's back, but I don't really have problems with it…except that he's too clueless to have any fun reactions. "Though you should be asking the workers; since they are all busy right now, I'll take over. I'm not good at this yet, so don't expect too much. We'll start with the legs. Drag the tool and cut off the bits you don't want like this." His hands resisted at first; that soon melted away. "See? If you keep doing that, it'll be normal again." I sat back down to my seat and kept working. It wasn't going quite the way I imagined it, there's still translation issues do to the foreignness of it all.

"Thanks." Natsu was carefully craving away at his work

"You're welcome; don't take too much off or you'll have to correct it again."

"I can just ask you, right?"

"You have the helpers for that."

"Asking you is quicker." It was that innocent smile of this that's outrageously hard to say no against. While it's like Meredy's, it had enough changes to it: his tooth sticking out is unfair and cute for someone like him.

"Just don't bother me too much."

"I won't." There it is again.

Like how people find it fun to hug fluffy pets, I find it calming to watch—and feel—clay come off its mother piece. I kept adjusting my piece, taking pieces off with a knife, working at the smallest detail that no one would care about. I gave up on trying to put fur on my cat, I don't know how to make it look good, nor do I have the time. Despite all that, I came up with someone I what happy with. My sleeping cat was finished. I was feeling confident, so with my remaining clay, I made the cat hold on to a rose with its mouth. Unsurprisingly, the rose was much easier to make, I do make it all the time after all; plus, all the time I used in modelling a cat gave me enough control for shaping a rose.

"Everyone, time is about up," Katty announced, "if you're still working, don't worry, we'll give you more than enough time. Those who are finished, please place your finished works on this table in-front of me. We'll need to cure the clay, or fire it. Normally, it'll take a while but, this clay is a bit special, it'll cure if you put magic into it, of course, traditional methods also work. If you can channel magic perfectly, feel free to cure it yourself, careful not to use too much force or it'll break; if you're not confident or you can't use magic, please set it down here, I'll help."

Following her words, I tried to funnel magic into my cat. It glowed a soft blue; looking at it didn't sting my eyes. I could see each flaw I made that much clearer with the added light, I shouldn't have been too hasty, why didn't I look at it for longer? I didn't want to stop pouring magic, I had no idea if that would affect the clay in a way I don't want; I just closed my eyes and kept pouring.

It was like filling in a Lacrima, I somehow knew when to stop, when I opened my eyes, my cat lost its wet sheen. Pressing lightly, it didn't give in, but retained its shape.

"This is cool!" Natsu cried. I turned to see his results. Instead of finding a cat, a book replaced it. He made a hardback tome; little detail was added on to it, just enough to define the parts of the book. On the cover was just a basic hourglass on the middle.

"Natsu, you didn't take that from someone did you?"

"Who do you think I am? I made this, Happy didn't look good, so I changed it."

"You didn't ask me to help you?"

"How could I? You looked like you were having fun, so I asked them. You were smiling and everything." I don't know if Natsu was lying or not, I find it hard to believe I was smiling. Sure, I was into it but still.

"Everyone, thanks so much for joining our workshop, I hope you all learned something. We do offer courses to learn more about sculpting, please head further down the corridor for more information, we also sell supplies for you over there as well. Lastly, whether you decide to pick up sculpting, painting, drawing, anything we teach today, I hope everyone comes to appreciate art in general. Please enjoy the rest of the other activities, don't forget to take away your sculpture, bye!"

"That was fun!" Natsu said. "What are we doing next?" With my cat in tow, I didn't really want to keep going. As we continued down the path, nothing really struck my interest, before I knew it, we reached their shop. "Oh right," Natsu hurried off to a counter, "I want some clay!" He's buying clay! I know he's easily influenced but, sculpting isn't the best thing for Natsu, I feel like if anything, he should—then again, his magic would help with firing it. "Here you go!" Natsu shoved a paper bag to my face.

"This is?"

"Clay, duh!"

"You didn't really have to, I didn't say I wanted it; not to mention, I don't have the time to practise, so I won't make much progress."

"Just take it! Wouldn't it be a shame? I mean, you had so much fun."

"Yes…well," he's so pushy when it comes to things like this, "but I really—"

"You looked so cool doing it, why don't you keep at it?" I couldn't think of anything to say.

I heaved and took the bag from Natsu, "Fine. How much was it?"

"It's fine, I forced it on you." Then you shouldn't do it in the first place! "Also, you can have this." Natsu slid his book in the gaps of the bag. "It's not as cool as yours though."

"Are you sure? You worked hard on it."

"I won't find it again. Lucy cleans my house every now and then, so some stuff disappears, it's better to leave it with you."

"You can give it to someone else."

"I made it for you, as thanks for hanging out with me." Hearing those words, my arm lost their strength to push the bag back, leaving it to swing.

"In that case, we're even, you accompanied me when you're not interested."

"Then just make something for me yeah? With the clay I bought." A second sun flashed, one filled with emotion. There's no other way to put it, the sun pulls so many things together into harmony. Natsu's quite similar, his character pulls so many allies towards him. Honestly, that smile is really unfair.

"You got it!"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! Sorry for how long this took, I was sick for a while and I had a small writer's block to boot, pretty sure I still do.**

 **I feel like this chapter is starting to rein back the quality I used to put out. It's hard to write feel-good, sweet things with this story. So many times, I wanted to have multiple perspectives in this story, but would complicate things so much. I feel like I'm barely capturing Ultear's personality. Juvia's was soooo easy because she's really exaggerated; having to write more than one without it feel flat scares me. I still feel like I'm doing a shoddy job at this.**

 **Which is why I've been putting a lot more personal emotion lately. If you compare to when this fic started, there's a lot less emotion and personal thoughts, at least I feel like it. But now I've ran into another problem: I feel like there's so many monologues. Lots of the stuff I right is fluff, I suppose if no one has problems with it, its fine, I don't know. I'm just having so much trouble making the characters have another dimension, I'll just brain storm some more I guess.**

 **I mentioned having small writer's block, which is why I want to know if you guys have any scenes you want done, just something I can write without needing to think the scenes out. It does make me a lazy bastard, but what else is new?**

 **Sorry this a/n was so down and heavy, I'll try to do better next time.**

 **Until then, have a nice day!**


	17. Chapter 17: Reading Up

**Disclaimer: I don't owe Fairy Tail**

* * *

I've entered a realm of the privileged, it's something I never thought possible, to achieve this level of freedom is simply a luxury. So this…is have a hobby.

I was sitting by a desk me and Meredy picked out; it was the size of two cubicles but without the partition. A shelf was hanging above, storing the books that's useful to keep around. To my left—within arm's reach—was the stack of books I frequently come back to. Covering those, was a blue tarp, starting from the stack of books ending at Meredy's starting point. This was to keep the clay from making a mess of things.

While I'm waiting for my body to be fully rested, the plan is to kill time; I never expected just by having a hobby would create such a time-sink. I started after breakfast at eight in the morning. The time is now twelve exactly.

I won't ever say I wasted time, the completed product staring at me was more than enough proof. I didn't colour my sculpture—mainly because I don't have the know-how to make it look good. Ice-make doesn't really help you with colouring.

It was sturdy enough to pick up without deforming, a long, armoured tail wrapped around the body. Turning it gave me a view of its front and hind legs, each one lean though in resting position; sharp claws glinted under my work light. I peered above m creation to examine the wings. They were tucked in, at a moment's notice, it feels like they could spread out and blot out the sun.

Facing it head-on, I started at a sleeping face; peacefully laying down on a hill I moulded for it, I stroked the head with a finger, loving each bump I ran across. This was my second work. I can easily gloss over the mistakes I made, the sleeping dragon was regal all the same—albeit it being as small as a dinner plate, I should go for a cuddly version next time. It's a shame I can't paint it, if I could…I'd want a roaring fire.

"Ul, are you done—wow!" Meredy rushed in and became the second enchanted person.

"Don't' push," I held her back from careening over and breaking my creation, "what if I drop it?"

"You can fix it." Her pressure weakened; her head still peering over my shoulders. "This isn't as nice as your ice, there's something about it that I like."

"Give me a break, this is only my second try."

"I never thought that you would find a hobby. What made you do it?"

I gave Meredy the dragon and fiddled with some spare clay, "It started as a way to kill time, I was just walking around the city for things to do. Then I ran into Natsu. One thing after another, I owe him a clay sculpture. So aside from relaxing, I figured it would be a great way to make gifts for people."

Meredy set the dragon back on the desk, "And this is it?"

"No," I pushed the dragon deeper in my desk, "I don't think I'm good enough for that yet, I want to give him something flawless."

"How about a naked bust of you?" A smile slowly grew; I flicked her forehead.

"We can't get too involved. Besides, does he even appreciate girls? I mean, it worked that one time, how are we sure that it's not just a one-off thing?"

Tending to her injury, Meredy asked, "Want to try and find out?"

A flustered Natsu came to mind, a face rosy like his hair; gone with his confident smile and in with him biting his lips in frustration—a memory shattered that image completely, "He's not around though, he just left for a job."

"A shame." Meredy sighed, "Want to join me then?"

"Where to?"

"The library."

As one would expect from one of the most major cities in the kingdom, the library was equally impressive. From my travels, only the library in the capital tops this one—granted, I mostly go to small towns but, the sight is amazing nonetheless. The building was three stories tall; however, I head it goes seven more underground; I also heard it was a way to minimize damage from Fairy Tail.

It opted for a classic style of construction, slanted tiles, stone walls, large arched windows.

"I can see how Mark spent a long time here." I commented, still taking in the aged but, clean structure.

"I honestly thought you'd become a victim when we decided to stay."

"What can I say? A lot has happened. It's time to play catch-up."

Meredy placed her hand on a white door, "Just don't over-do it."

"At this rate, I'll be well prepared if you came home in a week with a toddler sucking at your chest."

Meredy giggled, "This is coming from the person that fired questions like crazy when I came back from my friends, you were like a mom when her child came back from a field trip."

I shot back a grin, "I got to get the whole package after missing a huge chunk." Meredy pushed open the door.

Contrary to the architecture, the interior was more modern, sporting a look where libraries aren't just used for books and knowledge, but a social hub. While I could pick up the ever-familiar scent of books, there wasn't piece of reading material in sight. Then there's something mingling with the paper smell that shouldn't be bonded together, food and drinks.

It's a huge risk to have them in a public area like this. The library knows this too as the salivating temptress was a result of a café. Once you enter the front door, you won't find anything like a library, just round tables along with chairs, much like a café.

Another thing that shouldn't belong in libraries; noise. With groups upon groups of people enjoying drinks and chatting, you can tell me this is a food court and I won't even bat an eye. We walked deeper into the space, heading to a long reception desk at the back. Flanking it on both sides, were several sets of stairs, the ones on the left led up; right headed down. Finally, wrapping the entire floor, was rows of stores selling souvenirs, stationary and other craft supplies.

"Hello," Meredy waved at a reception lady, "we just moved here not too long ago, and this is our first time here, can you tell us the floor layout?"

"Of course, if you head up, you'll find the children's area, beyond that will be where we provide tools to help you with home projects, offer courses and lend auditoriums." She pointed to the stairs on the right, "Going down or 'B1' is where the main lounge is and where we handle books. The books itself are on 'B2' and onwards. Keep in mind that they're two main categories. 'B2' to 'B5' is classified as genera while 'B8' and 'B9' is magic related. Any other questions?"

"That's all, thank you."

"You're welcome, I hope you find what you want during your visit."

Meredy turned to me, "I bet you're going straight to the magic section."

"You're not?"

She shrugged, "You'll give me lessons if you find something important."

I messed up her hair, "And you told me to not treat you like a child for what? Two years now?"

"I'm coming too." We started our trip downstairs.

"Leave it all to mommy."

"Shut up."

After going down some stairs, everything else was very typical with other libraries I've been to; walking into a dome of silence created by a noise canceller; the hug I get from the smell of books returned. Then the star piece: rows and rows of treasures lined up as far as the eye can see.

"Look," Meredy pointed at a piece of paper stuck to the side of a bookshelf telling visitors where to find the types of books, they're looking for, "the psychology section is that way." She whispered.

"Then let's go."

"I know why you put so much emphasis on the state of mind when it comes to magic but, is it really that important?"

I smiled, "It's the great people that don't know why there's so brilliant. You, yourself are a big practitioner of it. Simply having a strong will goes a long way. We have an entire guild above us that's one of the most prominent examples. Just imagine one of them."

"So like Natsu."

"Precisely. He truly is a mountain is that regard, a sun that doesn't set. He's a person that's a great friend to have."

"And when will Mark beat this spirit?"

"Only time will tell." Though it might take a long time. I smiled and began my search.

What caught my attention while sandwiched between bookshelves, immersed—surround by books, was a dark blue leather back tome, shiny from the amount of hands that handled it. The spine read "The magic Development From Love to Family." I pulled out the book and flipped it to the back: another part in Dr. Fable's look at the mind of a wizard in different phases of life.

Just reading the title was more than enough for me to put the book back, I didn't however. While I don't plan on falling in love, learning is never a bad thing. So, I tucked the book under my arm and continued digging.

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! This chapter is a bit on the short side, but, I really have no ideas on what to write without making it seem like padding.**

 **I feel like there should be "Slice of life" option for the genres, then I don't have to feel bad about writing a bunch of stuff that doesn't advance the plot at all. Not to mention it's a lot more casual to write, not as stressful. Not that writing these are that stressful to begin with, I just have trouble thinking of good ideas to write about.**

 **Anyway, hope you enjoyed the chapter, have a nice day!**


	18. Chapter 18: Gift For a Job

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

In a span of two days, I've ran out of clay. I hoped the clay would last me my entire stay, thereby forgetting about it in a few weeks; yet, a lone of clay figures denied me of my wish. They ranged from cute to noble to beautiful. And with my remaining clay, my gift for Natsu was complete. It was a full-body sculpture of himself; I haven't seen him in a few days, somehow, a vivid and colourful image of him was under my beck and call whenever I needed it to. With such a rich image, this one was my best one yet; crossed arms spoke of his confidence, while a goody smile added to his friendliness.

Running out of clay wasn't that big of a deal, the books I borrowed from the library kept me busy. "The Magic Development From Love to Family" was the only I haven't finished—haven't started to be exact. Seeing I had nothing left to do, I cleaned up after myself and started reading it

 _If you're here to hope for conformation whether what you have is a crush or just a platonic relationship, this book won't give you the answer you need. With something as fluctuant and diverse as the mind, the line between friendship and lovers can be changed by a sentence. Therefore, it is hard to differentiate the two reading. What this book provides is a question; much like how having your friend ask you a question about the opposite party can help you change your opinion of him/her, this book will have you re-evaluate your opinion of someone._

 _It is you're your job to determine the big question._

 _Once you have acknowledged that this book is merely an aid or a springboard to learn, please flip over the page_

I did as told. What's interesting is that the book has a more 'young' writing style despite what the appearance of the thing will have me to believe.

 _Introduction_

 _My journey to analysing the magic changes of a person started here. Thought this maybe my third book in the series, it all started when a I linked a co-worker's magic spike with a date she had went on a few days prior. While it's no secret that the state of mind can affect spell performance, love is the most volatile of the bunch. I have recorded a person doubling in power while, at the same time, having an anecdote of someone else losing their magic from the same emotion._

 _In short, do not be alarmed if you find some anomalies when casting spelling. However, do not be hasty to make conclusions. This connection I've found was published in the Journal of Magic. Unfortunately, this_ _ **connection**_ _had led to people assuming what they have is love; a few months later, their relationships is in shambles. To ensure that this wasn't just a result of the other side, I reached out to a couple of people that made this mistake. I've found that their "love" was created with a shaky foothold to begin with—meaning, failing to see the obvious red-flags._

 _Then the questions still stands; what should you make of your own observations?_

 _Let's try a quick exercise, if you're here for the sake of learning, please skip this page._

I flipped over the page.

 _Friend?_

 _Love often starts out as being friends. Therefore, it makes sense to start here. For the most part, there isn't much difference when using magic for the sake of a stranger or for a friend—aside from one detail. When a person is at their limit, theorised or practised, should the situation requite it, the people can go past their limits. Another detail I've found is this effect is better the more important someone is to the caster._

I glanced at my clock and found that it was two in the afternoon—time to deliver my gift. I slipped a bookmark and started to get dressed.

I haven't visited Fairy Tail since we've came back from our operation, I know Meredy is the most frequent visitor out of the three of us. Jellal has been practising his magic for the most part or exploring the city. I was just holed up in the house wearing pyjamas. How do people go on vacations without feeling anxious?

But here I was, a paper bag in tow, trying to look for a set of pink hair. It didn't take long—the circumstances in which I found Natsu didn't really lend to much difficulty. He was on top of a pile of bodies, each piece giving out a groan sustained by each other and pain. Natsu wasn't the one on top of the pile, looking at his latest triumphs, but a part of it. Ruling the throne of violence, was a queen with a flowing river of blood from her head. Her latest victim, was Gray, battered and tumbling down the staircase of the fallen.

"Welcome! Don't worry about that." I turned to the abnormally cheery voice given the scene I just walked into; it was Lisanna straining a well-practised smile. "Oh! Are you looking for Master?"

"No, Natsu."

"Natsu?" She frowned, "He didn't cause any trouble did he?"

"Not exactly, I need to hand him this." I held up the bag.

"I see, I'll get him for you. Erza!" The knight looked down. "Someone is looking for Natsu!"

"Is that do?" Whatever happened, sharpened her voice compared to last I heard her. "I'll lecture you later." She kicked Natsu down.

"Bastard…" Natsu rubbed his, "I'll kick her ass one of these days."

"I'm surprised how you can just brush off a beating like that." I said.

"Hey!" Natsu grinned, ignoring my statement. "What's up?"

"Here," I pushed out the paper bag, "it's the clay sculpture you've been waiting for."

"Thanks!" Natsu took the bag, "But man, that was fast," he dug his hand into the clay, "I wonder was it is?"

"Don't get too excited."

"Why wouldn't I? I haven't got a—whoa! Cool!" Natsu turned around the tiny, white version of himself.

"That's really detailed." Lisannna remarked, leaning in, "Hey look, Happy's at Natsu's feet."

"Yeah, this is so cool." Natsu faced me and smiled. "Thanks, I'll take care of it."

This bonfire inside me, is just like when I first got a present on Mother's Day. I know I did the right thing.

"You better, do you have any idea how hard that was for me to make?"

Lisanna tapped on my shoulder, "Can I ask you to make something for me?"

"What is it?"

"Well, we're planning to have a summer party. You know, the guild gets busier whenever summer rolls around, not only do subjugation jobs spike, just about all kinds of jobs gets a bump in number. So, we hold parties whenever things get busy to have our members relax. And our parties generally have competitions and games so…"

"You want me to make some?" I finished; this might be a good chance to relax with the three of us together.

"That's right."

"I'm fine with it but, are you okay with a beginner like me? You can find much better crafts in a city."

"You're not wrong; still, just looking at this statue, I can tell you know much more about us the craftsmen—that's not to say that they aren't skilled, it's just…"

"I get it, I'll do it, just don't get too hopeful."

"Thank so much!" Lisanna bowed slightly. "Then, how much do you want?"

"Instead of paying me, can you let us join your party?" Seeing her confused face, I explained, "Us three aren't exactly the most carefree of people right?" She nodded. "Believe it or not, we find it hard to sir down and rest; Mark is still working despite him saying he's resting, just in a different way. He's going around the shady parts of the city, talking to people or keeping a deadeye on the newspaper.

"My girl is the same." I looked at Meredy that was laughing with her new friends, "She might be having fun now, I can tell she's been working on her magic at night. And me, I read and increase my knowledge on how to use my toolbox more effectively. As embarrassing it is to say, although we decided to stay here to take it easy, one way or another, we've found a way to 'work' without really doing actual work. So, at this party, can you teach us how to unwind properly?"

A while later, Lisanna scratched her hair, laughing nervously, "I don't think being able to have fun is such a big deal. I'm really envious of you three, we mess around a lot."

"Perhaps you'll understand what I'm saying when you're a bit older. You're now trying to reach us, we're trying to catch-up, that's why we work so hard."

"That's sounds like something gramps would say." Natsu said. I pointed a thorn to his neck.

"Are you saying I'm old? I'll have you know, seven years ago, out ages aren't that far apart."

"No! I mean that you're smart like him." I let him off. I can't resist squeezing him.

"Anyway, is it alright for us to join in?"

"Of course!" Lisanna said. "We still owe you for helping you us."

"Then, how many do you want me to make? More importantly, what you want it to be?"

"That's right," Lisanna groaned, "well, we don't want to have every game to have similar prizes so…three should be good. And for the appearance…I think anything is fine as long it's positive, you know, to remind or encourage the receiver."

"No problem." I grabbed Natsu by the wrist. "Let's go."

"What? Why?" Natsu pulled against me.

"I ran out of clay so I'm going to buy some more. You don't want a fragile woman to do the heavy lifting, do you?"

"Fragile!?"

Lisanna rushed off with a sadistic smile, "Good luck Natsu!"

"There you have it, come on."

"I hate shopping!"

"Really? I don't mind it as much, it depends on who I'm shopping with of course. And a word of advice: if you hate it so much, do make sure not to verbalise it so much, some might just drag it out on purpose, for fun."

"Then, what are you going to do?"

I took a turn to the street we were looking for, smiled, and said, "Just follow me."

* * *

Finding a shop that sells supplies wasn't hard, making sure I wasn't getting ripped off is the tricky part. I have no experience in picking out clay, much less knowing market prices. I'm not sure what's the difference. It's another matter entirely for magic tools; my body will reject poor ones on a subconscious level just by using it for a bit.

Lined up for me, was a shelf packed with an assortment of clay, varying from colour and size; there's the childish and attractive packs of twelve sporting the common colours in pencils; the magic clay I used; blocks of clay in reddish brown, grey, or pearl white—and I haven't even examined the brands!

Right at my eye level, were what I assumed to be the big brand names. With each brand producing at least one of each kind of clay. Near my foot, it was more or less a free-for-all, there was little unity in branding

"What's wrong?" Natsu asked.

"I don't know which ones better."

"Just grab some, what's the big deal?"

"If only business is that simple. The fact that there's so many options shows they all have some sort of hook that makes it worthwhile to be on the shelf; shopkeepers won't stock for no good reason, every shelf spot is valuable real-estate, especially in a place like this that has so much competition."

"Then how about this?" Natsu grabbed a random box. It wasn't a magic clay

"I can't use that, or at least, I don't know how to." I sighed and place it back. "You weren't listening. Just about everything you see here needs to be fired, I can't do that because I don't have the equipment back home."

"So these?" He pointed at the groups with the right label.

"I suppose I can buy one of each type, but I'm not that rich."

Natsu's nose twitched, "Just hurry up, I smell something good outside."

"Fine, we'll go with the big brands, but I'll come back for these beauties later, and I might try some other types of clay, I'll read up on them first."

Natsu grabbed a stack with one arm and this time, he was pulling me, "Come one, it's be my treat."

"Don't think you won't have to carry these." He stopped for half a second.

Just outside the shop, a decent sized line was forming at a stall selling street food. It was from a person with big dreams and a humble beginning. The roof above the owner was patched many times. While his counter was scratched, it was polished to a lovely shine. Most telling was his smile even while sweat was piling up. We lined up before the line got too crowded.

"Have you tried this tall before?" I asked Natsu; between a choice of something savoury like a burger or something sweet like crepes.

"Nope, it just smelt good. What do you want to eat?"

"I'll try to crepes, I had lunch not too long ago, I don't want to eat too much; you're going to have the skewers?"

"Yup! What flavour do you want?"

"The classic."

Once it was our turn, Natsu held two fingers, "Pops, I'll have three skewers and a classic crepe."

"Coming up!" Within a few minutes, we walked away happily.

"Do you know what to make?" Natsu took a bite of his food.

"Not yet, something positive is difficult."

"Let me know if I can help."

"I will." I wasn't sure if Natsu could help with anything; positive isn't my forte, being positive is like having hope—we don't rely on that, only well-made plans and ability. Then a flash crossed me. I just need to have some kind of inspiration. And what better model is there than the sun itself? "Actually, I might be coming to visit you soon, keep your house clean for me okay?"

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! To be honest, this chapter could have came out earlier, but I got so caught up on playing Fire Emblem for the past week, so I didn't write much during this period. This chapter is mostly setup and exposition, the next chapter might be better, I don't know.**

 **A funny but, irrelevant thing I discovered is the spelling of pyjamas. My spelling is mostly if not all British style, but I read a bunch of stuff in American style, so things get mixed up every now then, its only when I'm typing on word, do I know the correct spelling. Which does bring me to a question, most of my readers are American(not a big surprise), does is bother you guys at all? Like to read; does it slow down your reading flow? If it isn't too major, I won't change it.**

 **I know my writing is a bit slow these days, but writer's block is a bitch, these past two chapters is under my preferred length; so, hopefully I'll get through this soon.**

 **Until then, have a nice day!**


	19. Chapter 19: Soul Searching

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

Surprisingly, the clay that Natsu recklessly grabbed was the same one he bought for me the first time. While that means I know how to work the stuff, it's a shame that I can't try something a little different. I lined up the clay on my shelf, tucked away from sunlight. I'll head to Natsu's place tomorrow, it'll be weird to turn up at his house just after I parted with him. Demanding more attention than anything else on my desk, was the book I left. So, I crossed my legs and got comfy.

I tend to not use bookmarks, I make time from my schedule to ensure that I won't need it; I do have rare occasions where I leave—often, which is why I have trouble recalling what I read.

 _The effect I mentioned is persistent throughout the growth of two people's relationship. However, when having some talks with wizards in a committed relationship, they described the feeling of using magic for the other like a warm towel wrapping around their body, followed by a refreshing wave; some even explained it as a hot shower after a long day of work. Comparing to friends, the results I got were similar save that the ones in love were stronger on average. Though, without a framework to know what is strong and what isn't, it can be tricky for you to determine your case._

 _This similarity further proves my point to not take my observations prematurely and to not think that what you have is love. However, what's important to note is, for friends, the effect takes quite a while to develop and in turn, manifest. Unfortunately or fortunately, my observations up the ladder of friendship didn't yield additional evidence._

The rest of the chapter was detailed analysis of different anecdotes, including diagrams of the brain, explaining the multiple phases and signals the brain goes through to result in the power spikes the author noted. A funny detail in the second half was that it seemed like it was written by a different person; it was a more conventional style for papers and books that presents facts or results from experiments.

It was in this chapter that I studied the most, making notes and thinking of the ways I can use this information; heading to sleep with a satiated mind.

* * *

Even when we were working hard, I often found reading in the morning to be most relaxing, there's something about the glow from the sun shining past windows and hitting the pages that I can't help but love. There aren't many chances for reading at this time, the first time in six months, if my memory is to be trusted. The next chapter of the book piqued my interest more than the others.

 _Unison Raids_

 _Unison Raids, the concept floated to my head while I was interviewing another pair of wizards. While this topic is far from under-researched, Professor of Aster University, Dr. Bert Snyder noted that wizard pairs(particularly a male and female one) capable of performing Unison Raids often share a romantic relationship; and have a higher than average chance being married in the future while having a lower than average chance of a divorce._

Two sharp knocks on the door followed by hammering steps pulled me out of my flow: it was Meredy. She rushed in, "There you—oh, was I interrupting?"

"Nothing much, I was just reading. So, what's wrong?"

"I heard that we're to join in on Fairy Tail's party, is that true?"

"Provided that I make them some sculptures for prizes. Why? You don't want to?"

"It's not that, I didn't think you would want to join in the first place. I figured that you would say something like, it being nothing to do with you or, you're busy with some imaginary work." Those were my most used excuses; except, if I were to use them, it wouldn't be baseless.

"I guess I'm taking a page out of your book."

"You think Jellal will come?"

"I'll make him." I answered, smiling. I can drag him with a rope, guilt-trip him in doing what I want, I have loads of options.

"Then do you have an idea on what you're going to make?"

"Not right now…" I drummed my fingers on my desk, "but, I'll get some inspiration soon, want to come with me?"

"Sure, I don't mind but, where are we going?"

I stared out the window; on the second floor, I can just peek at the green tops of a forest. "Natsu's house."

* * *

When you're a resident of a city, one would think that you would live in the city, not in a forest nearby. Regardless, I haven't had a nice hike in a long time; on a sunny day; a sweet breeze rustling branches as we walked up a snaky but well used road. I couldn't find any dangerous animals, only the small critters that rely com camouflage, I assume it's because a dragon-slayer was stomping around the area, Natsu does use this road all the time if what I heard is to be believed.

"How did you find out where Natsu lives?" Meredy asked.

"I heard some people talk about it." I swiped away a branch. "Though I'm not sure if it's true or not; I suppose that's what we're here for."

Before long, a crude sign with childish handwriting cropped up, telling me who lives here.

"Seems like we're in the right place." A few more steps, and we got a better look at the house. Clearly, he doesn't take care of it much. Vines crawled up from the ground, past stone bricks and settled along orange roof tiles. The house itself was small—sufficient, if you want to be nice. The size isn't unjustified, after all, travelling often and using the guild as a second home doesn't warrant too big of a home.

Once we're at the door, there isn't anything remarkable, albeit out-of-place considering how much of the house aesthetics uses vines yet the door was well cleared out.

"Natsu, you're just making it worse!" A muffed voice complained.

"Shut up! Lucy does it all the time, how hard can it be? What's this fish bone doing here?" Natsu's replied.

"Ahh! That's my lunch last week. Hey! Why did you throw it away?"

"'cause it's trash, why was it here anyway?"

"I was saving it."

"For what?" Natsu raised his voice, "They're here!" What sounds like garbage colliding with the wall escaped outside, followed by Natsu grinning nervously at the two of us. "H—hey, you're early." He closed the door behind him.

"If you're cleaning the house, we can come back later." Cutting to the chase, I gave Natsu an option.

"How did you—"

"We heard you."

"It's fine," Natsu gulped, "you two are already here, so come…in." He opened the doors…to what I can safely say…chaos. There's so much trash! Bag were spilling wrappers, boxes, food waste. There was a small winding path unblemished, proving the floor's existence.

"How should I say…it's unique."

"Shut up." He's sulking.

"It's pretty amazing you know," a blue cat quipped, "Natsu never cleans up the house, I was surprised when he started cleaning up."

"And you didn't help me!"

"I'm weak."

"You can fly!"

I coughed to get their attention, "Do you know why we're here?"

"No."

"You know I have to make some prizes right? I'm here, to gather some information."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that we're going to have fun." Natsu brighten up and pumped his fist in the air.

"Then I got a perfect place!" Natsu abandoned his rubbish bag in a heartbeat and left the building.

He led us to an open field. It was very picturesque, waves of grassy hills, not a single rock, a herd of animals in the distance. What made it like a painting was the single tree we were standing under. Natsu turned around, "We're here." He said with a smile.

"So," I looked around to make sure there isn't anything, "what are we doing?"

He hammered his fists together, "We're going to fight! I've been waiting for this."

I wanted to punch him, or starve him, throwing him to Erza, whichever makes him suffer more. I balled my hand into a fist. But Meredy held my shoulders. "We're on a break," she explained, "plus, we don't find fighting fun like you do."

"Come on, just a little."

"Maybe later." I said, hoping he'll forget about it.

"Fine," Natsu laid down on the grass, "let's sleep." He patted the area around him before using his hands as a pillow.

"What?"

"Just trust me." I sighed and laid beside Natsu; what's so special about sleeping in a field like this? It's like sleeping on a heated carpet, a blissful warm massaged my back. As if the wind was a salesman, it blew past at the perfect time, warm and dry. Then I felt Meredy's head touch my shoulder, using my right arm as a body pillow.

"You're too old for this." I said.

"If we're here to sleep and relax, I'm at my most comfortable like this." I can't really see myself sleeping like this. For one, I'm on edge when I'm out in the open like this. I don't need the sleep either, so I was staring at the kaleidoscope-like leaves under a bright sun while brooding over what I read before I was interrupted.

* * *

A mix of gold and orange, then a rich pink near the horizon. I pulled myself up, and that's what I saw. I actually slept. Yet, I wasn't guilty about it, rather, I wouldn't mind doing it again. Beside me, Meredy, Natsu and Happy was still dreaming. I was basking in the afterglow of the sun. Annoying. Now I know what it feels like to have your blanket stolen, there's a slight moment of vulnerability. Rubbing my shoulders, I peered over Natsu's sleeping face. He really does seem like a different person from this angle. A kitten tuckered out after a long day of play; in this case, I suppose it's a hatchling.

He won't notice right? I broke into a smile and reached forward, planting my fingers in his hair brushing apart his roots. First plunging in, it's a bit prickly; once you get past that, it's smooth and great to run your hand through. Apple wood floats up my nose, scattering from Natsu's hair.

A barbeque sounds great, on the beach, after a day of playing. If I were to be greedy, I want to lose this disguise, just free to be me, spending a day with my quasi-family, Fairy Tail storming around. Ending it all by eating food you roasted yourself—like that will ever happen. Daydreaming just broke my confusion. I shook Meredy.

"Wake up." I whispered. Nothing. I tried harder.

"What?" Her eyes peeled open. "That was nice. So," she yawned, "what's wrong?"

"I got an idea on what to make."

"You do? Just from napping?"

"Well, it wasn't the nap itself but, what I thought of after. I think I'll make a sculpture of a campfire."

Meredy tilted her head, "A campfire?"

"Think about it, Fairy Tail is very well-known for their community. And campfires bring people together. So I just need to stylise the fire a bit."

"I suppose, but won't that be a bit hard to make? Fire doesn't exactly have a solid form."

"I don't need to make a realistic fire."

Natsu turned and stretched, "That was a great nap! Did something happen?"

"I have an idea on what to make, it's all thanks to you."

"Really? What is it?"

"That'll ruin the fun, won't it be more interesting if you found on the day of the party?"

"Then I'm waiting for it!" He smiled.

"I need to start working then. Thanks again for the help."

"Come play again, maybe we can fight next time."

"We'll see about that."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading! I'm back! I wonder how long do I have to prolong an upload before I can use the 'I'm not dead joke'. But seriously, this took way too long. Mostly out of procrastination smaller reasons are writer's block and school. I'm back on that academic grind, so of course, my real life takes priority, and that's my strongest excuse.**

 **Joking aside, it's been so long, I've basically forgotten most of the stuff I planned, I did take notes, I mainly mean I've forgotten what I wrote, embarrassing, really. Still have no clue where to take this story, but I feel like it's on the right track. This story is one where I feel like it can drag on or end in 20 chapters or so, maybe 30 I'm not sure.**

 **Funny thing to mention, I've been getting new followers more in my absence than when I was writing, kinda stings...and it was all from my Juvia story, also stings...although, I suppose that's a good thing, Third Time's the Charm has been my philosopher's stone for a good while. It's like this elusive thing I can't re-create in terms of personality and quality. I know it's strange to compare a completed story to one that's still in progress. Heck, who sees an incomplete story that hasn't see updates in nearly a month and gives it a read? I only have myself to blame.**

 **Sorry again, for saying a bunch of cray that has nothing to do with the story, I've mainly been using these notes as a way to vent and document my feeling as I write stories.**

 **Anyway, my life is a lot more busy now that schools started again, I'll see you next month! God I hope that doesn't come true.**

 **Hope you enjoyed, have a nice day!**


	20. Chapter 20: Preparations Complete

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail**

* * *

"What do you think?" I lifted my newly finished sculpture for Meredy to see.

"I think it's pretty good," she rotated it around the flames, peering above the logs, "why a campfire?"

I shrugged, "I figured that a campfire would get people together, it's supposed to represent their guild." Meredy placed the trophy back down.

"What else are you making?"

That was tougher to answer, presently, I don't have anything. While I think it's ridiculous for me to develop an "artistic vision" in the short amount of time that I started making clay figures, I couldn't commit to something I that don't feel confident in, that is, nothing.

"Do you have any ideas?"

"Hmm…a tree?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, if the goal is to embody Fairy Tail, a tree is pretty solid, they need many leaves to grow and many roots to keep them together, most beautiful when full, vice-a-versa. And, each small part makes the whole thing." She finished with her eyes closed.

"You're getting rather lyrical, what have you been reading?"

"Are you using it or not?"

"If you're getting that starry-eyed over it, then we'll go for it, what else? I'll make one more."

"Something cute then?" Cute huh? I rested my chin on my fingers. Now that's something that I'm not sure about, I have no idea what makes something so cute, or at the very least, my opinion from cute strays from the norm. I remember giving a present for Meredy when she was still young, her saying that the thing I got for her wasn't cute still puzzled me to this day. "Oh, don't give me that look, I'll help you."

I pulled out a seat for Meredy, "Have a seat then," this isn't the first time I have to rely on my daughter for advice in terms of things that I don't understand; in exchange, I taught her about make-up, choosing dresses—the more mature kind. "So? What do you think will be good?"

"I think a cat will be nice, Fairy Tail is pretty well-known for their talking cats."

"Isn't that because of the Dragon-slayers?"

"Cat lovers don't care about that."

"Are there cat lovers in the guild?"

"I'm just saying it might represent the guild to an extent. Of course, the best choice is the guild mark."

"That's a bit too obvious." I reached up for a block of clay, "I'll finish the tree first, then I'll get to the cat."

"Have fun!" Meredy quickly closed the door behind her and left me alone to my work.

* * *

It took a while but, I spun my finished works around; one a regal tree with a crown that spreads outwards. On the trunk, the Fairy Tail mark was etched in. Next was the cat. I decided to make a cat in a resting sleeping, tummy slightly exposed and the tail wrapping around the whole figure. I spent a good five minutes in admiring my work, all the while ignoring the hollow feeling urging me to pay attention to it. My room appears to have the perfect lighting to show off the shadows casted by the leaves. One problem emerged every time I set my work down and stepped away from it, everything is grey. I still hesitate to colour in the things myself, especially on something that's technically commissioned. So with something commissioned, I decided to show my progress. I wrapped my three statues—careful to not bang on them—in three separate pieces of cloth, slowly into a paper bag, gingerly stepping out the door with my creations in tow.

The guild building wasn't too busy when I arrived, no one was hitting on me, but more surprisingly, they recognised me, throwing a simple wave or inviting me to have a drink with them; which would make their shock all the more intense if I were to ever lose the disguise.

"Hey!" Lisanna waved, serving a drink before coming over. "Are you done already?"

"Kind of." I pointed to the bag. "Is this a good place? Does it matter if the members know what the prize is?"

"You're right!" Lisanna stared at me, as if the idea never crossed her mind. "We'll talk about this in the back. Sis! I'm taking a break!" She took the bag from me and led me to the bar. "We'll talk about this in the staff room." It really wasn't much, I saw two well-used sofas on either side of the room, a coffee table in the middle. Near the door, were lockers; at the very back, was a fridge.

Closing the door, Lisanna plopped down on a sofa and urged me to sit. "There's three of them," she peered inside the bag, taking them out, "do you mind which one I open first?"

"I don't." I sat down and crossed my legs.

"A cat? It looks really well made but, why did you choose a cat? It doesn't look much like the exceeds either."

"I was told that your guild has quite the cat lovers inside and outside the guild."

"That's true…aww, that's cute, it has our mark for the collar." She set the cat down. "I don't have problems with it, let's see the next one." Myself aside, no one really scrutinised my works to such a degree like Lisanna is doing right now; in a word, foreign. I'm used to judging others, pointing out what's wrong. Being on the other side of criticism, the last time…was when I was a child.

"I don't have much problems with them but," Lisanna paused, tapping her knees, "well, they're a bit…"

"Dull?" I finished.

"That's right."

"I can't do anything about that, I'm not so sure of my colouring. I might make a mistake and I don't know if I can re-create these again."

"I suppose." She fell into silence, scratching her head, smoothing it out, then repeating the process until she jumped from the sofa. "I know! I'll just take these to Reedus, I'm sure he can colour them for you."

"I don't mind, there're made for the guild anyway."

"Well, in the past, some artisans weren't so keen on us modifying their work, they saw it as mocking their skills."

"Don't worry, I haven't developed such an artistic pride, I don't think I ever will, as a matter of fact."

Lisanna placed the statues back into the bag, "Thanks for these, I know you didn't have to listen to my request."

"I got something out it," I shrugged, "I do have a question however."

"Got for it!"

"What's a party like?" She paused again.

"Huh?"

"What do you do in a party? You know, for fun. I've been to parties before, just having fun wasn't the goal of me participating."

"You're joking right?" I simply stared back. "Now I'm really curious what your past was like."

"It's a long, boring story."

"Well," she sighed, "if we have time, maybe you can tell me."

"I don't think that'll happen." I made sure to put a hard stop in my voice; I won't be interacting with the guild much after our stay, if Jellal ever has something to say about it.

"A—anyway, parties are just an excuse for us to having fun and slack off, playing some games—stuff like that. So then, what do you do to relax and take a breather?"

"Read I guess."

"Nothing social?"

"Nothing that involves a group of people."

"It'll be a great first time then! I guarantee that you'll definitely have a great time." It's that sunny smile again, at this point, I wonder if I should coin the term of "Fairy Smile". Yet, they have individual variance. Natsu for example, his smile is cheeky, child-like; bringing in all the energy of a dog.

"Are you sure?" What will they think about alien people invading in their partying?

"You never tried it before, how can you be so sure?"

"That's not what I mean, will your guild accept us? We're technically outsiders."

She laughed, "What are you talking about? We completed a job, together didn't we? You're already a friend in my book."

"Aren't you a bit trusting?"

"Well," Lisanna reclined on the sofa, "when we were kids, we were told that if we were so cynical, we would never be a family. I guess that mentality rolled over to this day. Plus," she scratched her cheeks slowly, slightly red I shame, "people don't pick a fight with us much."

I got off the sofa, "I'll see you then, when is the party again?"

"Five days from now, it'll start at lunch time, but you can come in at any time, just make sure you don't come in when the party ended."

"Thanks again." I waved as I closed the door behind me. I breathed a sigh once I was outside, it's liberating to know that my job is done. Now all have that's left to do is to finish the book. So far, that thing didn't tell me about anything that was particularly useful. Interesting? Yes, I rarely read about the topic of romance, even during my teenage years when I was first introduced to the concept. Come to think of it, isn't my life too stale until now? I can afford to live unlike my training days, I just don't do it. Hanging that question in the air, I continued my walk back home.

* * *

I sank on my bed and covered my face with a pillow. It feels like all my strength was just sapped when I flopped on the bed. I sighed and rolled to my stomach. The book I was planning to read was right in the centre of my vision.

"Why didn't I learn how to levitate things?" Groaning that I have to leave the bed for the book. Using distance as an excuse, I opted to read the book at a later date, I feel too tired for some strange reason; yet I don't feel drowsy at all. Street noise filled the room, hammering home how inactive I was. It was muffled, but I could still make out some things. A kid crying for ice-cream, students on their way home chatting. Then the door opened; Jellal threw me an annoyed look.

"Why would you sign us up for the party?"

"You still don't knock, what if I was changing? One of these days, you're going to make this mistake to someone that minds."

Jellal leaned against the door frame, staring at me with dead eyes, "Are you really going to play the school girl?"

"Depends, if it helps defuse your anger, I have no problems."

"If you know I'll be pissed," he seethed, "why did you sign me up?"

I shrugged, "I figured you could use some time in the sun, holing up in the library isn't going to do much good. What are you doing in there all the time?"

"Are you really questioning someone trying learn?" This is beyond anger, one of the few occasions where I can see him so uncomposed.

Turning around again, I propped my body with my elbows, crossing my legs, flashing a smile at him, his magic leaked. Of course he knows I'm loving this. "Now there no need to be so defensive," his eye twitched ever so slightly, sorry Jellal, you let a woman like me read you for around seven years, there's nothing I'll miss, "there's no point in avoiding Fairy Tail so much. Like it or not, they're biggest ally we have."

"You want...them to go against those monsters?"

"You mainly mean Erza right? Of course, we'll have them help us, Erza trumps me by a good margin. If we're going to cleanse our sins, we'll have to start at the disaster Hades chased after, the one I helped unleashed."

"I don't need you to remind me of our goals, but Zeref isn't our biggest priority right now."

"I hear you, cut down the number of cultists; eliminate dark guilds—prevent any more impressionable ones from contacting Zeref's magic. Ultimately reducing his numbers. But honestly," I laughed dryly, "why would a genius wizard like him need worthless pawns like the ones we dispatch regularly?"

"Which is why I'm in the library looking for information."

"Good luck finding it in there, I'm sure the council doesn't hide all that information at all. You know, your head is getting a bit muddy, want to get a drink before coming back?"

"We're getting off topic." Throwing his hands in the air, "I'll admit" he sighed, "Fairy Tail is our biggest ally. But what does that have to do with a party?"

"I figured some bonding will do us wonders."

"We're no where—"

"How about you just spill it?" I softened my voice, "We both know you're not hiding it very well."

"I hate you sometimes."

"She's," Jellal swallowed, "trying to get back the relationship we once had."

"Fellow slaves?" A claw stopped at my throat, I stared at his tense face. "Alright fine, I'll stop, you were saying?"

"About time. I'll keep this in mind the next time you try to shake me up."

"You didn't think I'd let you that time?"

"Anyway," He stressed, "she's trying to mend the bridge I burned. And she's doing a terrible job at it. So forceful, annoying. And how does she always find me? What happened to her upbringing at Fairy Tail? She wasn't this…this…"

"Aggressive?"

"Thank you. Yeah, aggressive. Sure, she was a bit feisty at times in the tower but how?"

"I think she's doing a lovely job."

"You're kidding, right?"

"Did you ever mention this much about her before?"

"Of course, I…damn it." Coming here wasn't a mistake.

"What's the harm anyway? I'd wager that most would rejoice at getting their childhood friend back."

"And I'd wager that most aren't going after the most dangerous wizard in the world at the same time. We can't expect to get through this without sacrifices. What if, I go along with Erza's wishes and, I left her. I'll be tearing into her heart again. Even dead, I still hurt her. If the opposite happens, what's the point in all my work if the main reason I struggled for is gone in the end?" He developed a sudden interest for his boots, sweat dripped down. Gritted teeth and balled fists completed the image of a man reaching his limits. I suppose I can help him out. I slipped my hands under my blanket. It's a teammate's job to bail out when possible.

"Then I'll secure your happy ending." I broke the silence, but it quickly came back like the tides.

"What...do…you…mean?" Clenching his fists harder, Jellal breathed out every word.

"You researched my magic, right? Don't act surprised now." I forced a confident smile. "Last Ages." I paused. "If you ever mess up, I'll erase it."

Maybe ten seconds past. Jellal's temper erupted again, "What are you talking about?" he roared, "What about Meredy? Are you really going to sacrifice your life for me? What makes you think that losing you in exchange will make me happy?"

"My life should have ended, Meredy saved me; I made sure to spend as much as possible with her since. And wouldn't it be poetic? I'll end what I started."

"You were a victim!"

"Then make sure you don't screw up, got it?"

Staring me square, he smiled, "I won't."

"Good." I grinned. "Now then, that's out of the way, pray tell, what's stopping you from coming to the party now?"

Red in anger, turned around, "I really hate you." Jellal stormed out the door, before he closed it, he said, "were your fingers really that cold?" And I swear, I could see his lips curling into a smirk.

Everything was silent again, I looked at my quivering fingers. "Damn."

* * *

 **Thanks for reading!**

 **It's been a while huh? Yeah, that's partly my fault. School was a lot more busy than I thought it would be. Plus, I was procrastinating a lot, which didn't help with the release of this chapter. Even though lessons has been cancelled due to the Hong Kong protests, I still have a pile of school work to do because projects aren't cancelled, so I don't think my uploading will improve any time soon.**

 **Anyway, this story somehow took a really serious turn, and I started something I'm not quite sure how to end. So fk me and my impulse decisions. It seemed like a cool idea at the time. Though I'm sure, future me will be cursing my poor choices soon enough.**

 **I'm glad that people still enjoyed my Juvia story though. Once(if) this story ends, I think I might dabble in one-shots, it seems to fit my crappy uploading. And it might not be about romance, just random stuff that pops up when I'm showering or something.**

 **Anyway, until then, I hope you enjoyed, and have a nice day!**


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